The Chronicles of the Forgotten Potter
by Alyssa Donnelly
Summary: This follows the life of Katherine Potter, Harry's twin sister. She has great unknown powers that strengthen and grow with age. Her abilities remain a secret from the Dark Lord for now, but they could be the end of the free wizarding world or his end.
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter woke up with a start upon hearing a loud noise coming from down stairs. The Dursleys were out accepting some award for gardening or something along those lines, leaving him alone in the house. He had been feeling alone and resentful all summer due to the absence of communication with his friends who had seemed to have disappeared from the face of the planet. After the run-in with the dementors, his sister had gone with Dumbledore, much to the dissatisfaction of the Potter twins. He had not received word from either her or Sirius and it had bothered him greatly. It was the first time that he and his sister had spent a birthday apart in the three years that had passed since they had been reunited for the first time since the murder of their parents. To put it simply, Harry was not in a good mood and the fact that he had been woken up in the middle of the might by a possible intruder downstairs was not helping his temper at all.

He grabbed his wand from his nightstand and put on his glasses before getting up and creeping over to his bedroom door. He paused listening to make sure that he wasn't hearing things. Another loud noise confirmed his original suspicions of an intruder in the lower level of the house. He slowly opened the door, trying to make as little noise as possible so as not to give away his position. He could hear the sound of voices and movement coming from the living room and kitchen areas as he poked his head out from his room. He crept to the top of the stairs to see if he could possibly better assess the situation from their when he noticed a girl standing at the bottom of the stairs talking rather animatedly to a man in a hushed tone. As he came to a stop at the top of the staircase, her head snapped to face his direction. "Harry!" she exclaimed, he could tell that she was grinning by the sound of her voice. "Kat?" he asked, instantly recognizing the voice of his twin with a small smile.

She began to walk towards him when the man that she had been speaking with stopped her, "Stop. How do we know that he's not the real Harry Potter?" The man's voice was gruff and very familiar. "Oh, honestly Alastair," snapped Kat. "Now, now Alastair," came the voice of Remus Lupin. Harry began to wonder just how many people were wandering the first floor of the Dursley's house. "Here's a question that only Harry Potter should know," Remus continued, "What is the form that your patronus takes?" Harry was thankful that Lupin had been his defense against the dark arts professor, "A stag." Moody grunted, not entirely convinced. Kat rolled her eyes, "For further verification, what is the form of my patronus?" Harry smiled at his sister's quick wittedness and at her obvious irritation with the man who would have been their defense against the darks arts teacher the previous year. "A doe," he replied without hesitation. Moody finally gave in and as if on cue, Kat bounded up the stairs to her brother.

"Harry!" she squealed as she tackled him in a tight hug which he gladly reciprocated. The two stood that way, afraid to let each other go after spending a while apart. They were so close and any long time apart was hard on them. "I'm so sorry Harry. I wanted to stay, I really did, but I had to go and I missed you so much and I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry," she rambled into his shoulder. "It's alright Kat," he murmured as he kissed her hair and pulled away from her embrace. Her vibrant emerald eyes were filled with mixed emotions of happiness, relief, regret, and what seemed to be the slightest trace of sadness. They stared at one another for a moment to fully absorb the fact that they were once again in each other's presence.

"Pack your trunk Harry and get your broom. We're getting you out of here," she said suddenly, her voice taking on an authoritative tone that sounded frighteningly close to Hermione when she went into bossy mode. He gave her a questioning look as he turned and began to walk back to their small room with her close behind.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Harry began to bombard his sister with questions as he hauled out his trunk and began to pack his things. "Where were you? I'm not mad or anything, but, what are you doing with Lupin and Moody? Who are the other people who are here? Why are you all here?" The somewhat regretful look returned to her features, biting her lip (a nervous habit that she had developed as a young child), "I'm sorry Harry, but I can't tell you now, not here," she said quietly as she began to help her somewhat flustered twin pack, "But, what I can tell you is that they're our escorts, they're supposed to protect us if something happens and if anything goes wrong." Harry nodded in response to show that he understood.

There was a brief silence between the two until Harry decided to break it to ask, "What about our lovely relatives?" His voice was oozing with sarcasm. "You can't seriously believe that they actually won some gardening award did you?" she scoffed, causing Harry to look at her inquisitively, "We set it up, it's not real. We had to get them out of the house somehow and I don't think that Uncle Vernon would take too kindly to a bunch of witches and wizards barging into their home in the middle of the night." Harry chuckled at his sister's bluntness as he continued to pack. He had missed her and was glad to have her back with him again. Another comfortable silence settled over them until it was broken by loud noises coming from downstairs, earning a small, irritated groan from Kat. "You finish packing, I have to make sure they don't break anything, you know Aunt Petunia, one small scratch or item out of place and she'll know something was up." Harry chuckled in acknowledgement of his aunt's obsessively clean and organized tendencies. "I'll meet you downstairs, yeah?" she asked as she made her way towards the door. "Yeah," he replied watching her as she gave him a quick smile and left the room.

He resumed placing his belongings into his trunk and making sure that Hedwig was properly secured in her cage. "Tonks, no! Don't touch the toaster! My aunt hates when her things are out of place!" He laughed as he heard his sister lecture their "escorts." After he was sure that he had packed everything he needed he lugged his broom, his trunk, and Hedwig's cage down the stairs. When he entered the living room, Kat introduced him to the others who were part of their traveling party, Nymphadora Tonks (just Tonks as she made it very clear), Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Hestia Jones. After introductions and such were made, Harry's things were sent to the location, which was still unknown to Harry, and the group made their way out of the Dursley House with their broomsticks in hand.

Once outside the group fell into formation and mounted their brooms, ready to fly. "Whatever you do, don't break ranks…" Moody rambled on gruffly about the dangers, safety precautions, and touched on how they would proceed to their destination. Kat just rolled her eyes and gripped her broom poised and ready to take off as did Harry, both eager to fly. Finally, they kicked off and began their journey into the night. Harry felt all negative feelings just fade away as they soared, feeling happy for the first time in weeks, treasuring the wind whipping his face and the familiar feeling of freedom that he loved spreading through his body. Kat kept up easily on her Firebolt, which she had also received from Sirius in their third year. She was glad to see her brother looking so happy for the first time in a while. She had been cooped up at headquarters and was, like her brother, savouring the feeling of flying. The twins wore matching expressions of joy and peace as they darted off to their destination, maintaining their formation.

They finally landed in another muggle suburb just outside of London. Harry shot his sister a questioning look as they dismounted and walked towards the middle of two of the houses across the street, which she returned with a small smile and gestured with her eyes to the houses in front of them. As they got closer, the houses began to diverge and a new house began to appear in the steadily growing gap between the others. "Welcome to Number 12 Grimmauld Place Harry," she whispered as Moody gave the code knock.

The party entered as the door opened, Tonks almost knocking over a troll foot umbrella stand. Upon entering, Harry took in the dark, ancient interior of the house as they proceeded down the dimly lit hallway until he was enveloped into a very tight hug from Mrs. Weasley, who immediately began fussing over him. She was making the usual comments of how glad she was to see him and how thin he still was and the like while Kat snickered off to the side. When Mrs. Weasley finally released him she directed him to his room, telling him that the others were already here. Harry thanked her before she walked away to the kitchen at the end of the hall followed by the escorts. He saw Sirius through the doorway, receiving a nod and small smile, which he returned before he began to make his way up the decrepit looking staircase. He got about five steps up when he noticed that his sister was not behind him and instead making her way towards the kitchen. "Kat, are you coming?" he asked. "I'll catch up with you later Harry, go say hi to everyone and make yourself at home, alright?" she replied, giving him a weak half-smile before closing the kitchen door behind her.

The Order meeting progressed at a painfully slow rate as each problem was analyzed and over analyzed before they proceeded to the next issue or bit of news. Kat had been inducted after the incident with the dementors in Little Whinging, making her the youngest member. She didn't quite know why she had been sworn into the Order of the Phoenix, they never made it clear and it bothered her. She drifted from her thoughts coming back to the present conversation, rather the present argument. Sirius and Snape were going at it, their deep-set hatred in each other fuelling them as they went back and forth in a rather animated fight. The major topic of the evening was whether or not her twin brother should be inducted into the Order, spawning endless disagreement between the older members.

Mrs. Weasley was completely opposed to it and if she had her way to begin with, Kat would never have become a member in the first place. "Enough!" Everyone's gaze snapped in the direction of the 15-year-old girl who was now rubbing her temples, "I don't mean any disrespect, but you are honestly like a pair of children squabbling over a broken toy and quite frankly, it's giving me a headache." Snape glared at her while Sirius and several others at the table (namely McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Lupin) cracked small, amused smiles at her boldness. "If I may speak," she paused to receive a nod from her headmaster, "It is in my honest opinion that my brother, Harry, should be inducted into the Order. We're the same age, we're equally good at defending ourselves and he's proven this time and time again with everything that he has been through and he's handled it as well as I think most of you could. It's not a matter of fairness, so to speak, but I do believe that he of all people has earned his place in this organization."

They sat in silence, none quite sure of what to say. They all knew of why she had been inducted and although they knew that she was right in what she said, they all knew that she was not fully aware of the gravity of her situation. She would learn the reason of her early initiation eventually, when the right time presented itself. But now, however, was not the right time and she would be kept in the dark until then. Excusing herself from the meeting she quickly made her way from the kitchen, the door closing loudly behind her. Little did Kat know that her brother had heard every word and he was reminded about how much he loved his sister.


	2. Chapter 2

"Cedric!" Kat watched in horror as the light left his eyes in a flash of green light. Everything went black. A door flashed into focus the fades quickly. A face appears, a dreaded and familiar face, came into view. Voldemort.

Kat woke with a start, breathing heavily and drenched with sweat. Her shoulder length, jet-black hair stuck to her pale skin and her green eyes darted around the room fearfully until they made contact with the two figures of Ginny and Hermione staring warily at her with evident looks of concern. "Are you alright Kat?" Ginny asked. "I'm fine, why?" she replied. "You were thrashing around and calling out in your sleep again," Hermione said worriedly. "I'm fine, really. Just a nightmare is all," Kat replied with a weak smile. Despite the fact that her dreams were getting increasingly worse over the course of the summer, she continuously pushed them aside and told the girls to go back to sleep, once more reassuring them that she was fine and apologizing for waking them up. Her friends looked unconvinced, but agreed, reluctantly going back to sleep, while Kat feared to succumb to the drowsy need that came over her, fighting the clutches of sleep until she could stand against it no longer and fell into a thankfully dreamless slumber.

"Morning, love," George Weasley greeted Kat, giving her a quick peck on the cheek when he came down to breakfast the next morning. "Morning George," she replied as he grabbed the seat next to her. They had been together on and off since their third year and their relationship was currently far from pleasant with their constant arguments, their previously close friendship, tarnished by their somewhat incompatibility as a couple. They were trying desperately to make it work, perhaps him more so than her, but there was one thing for certain, their relationship was on the rocks and quickly slipping out from under them.

Kat's toast was buttering itself as she helped herself to the other foods Mrs. Weasley had cooked up for breakfast. "You know, you're really getting the hang of that," Hermione stated as she observed Kat's growing control of her telekinesis, "You're not even having to look at it anymore. "Thanks Hermione," she replied with a smile. Her friend was sitting next to a very tired looking Ron, who was loading his plate with food, as were the twins. Mrs. Weasley, now finished cooking, was desperately trying to comb Harry's stubborn jet-black hair but with little to no success, his hair managing it fight back, warning winces from him with every tug of the comb. "Katherine, remember what Dumbledore said, no use of any of that outside of Headquarters. Do I have to remind you of the risks or of the danger you could put yourself in?" chided Mrs. Weasley in her motherly tone as she gave a rather painful tug with the comb. Kat, who had been intently watching the raging battle between her brother's unruly hair and her pseudo mother with a rather amused expression sighed in response, "I know Mrs. Weasley."

No one was very talkative seeing as it was the morning of Harry's trial, everyone at the dinner table shooting him sympathetic glances throughout breakfast. Katherine was going with Mr. Weasley and her brother for support and in the chance that she'd need to testify in his defense. Her thick, silky black hair was tied half up half down. She was a very pretty girl with a slim figure, fair skin, emerald green eyes with many features that closely resembled her mother's as well as the characteristic ones that she shared with her brother.

Later that morning, when they had arrived at the Ministry of Magic and the trial had begun, Kat sat in the seats opposite the Ministry officials of the Wizengamot. She scanned the group of wizards and witches, noticing a familiar red-haired man who glared at her over his horn-rimmed glasses, Percy Weasley himself. She wanted to laugh at the pompous air that he exuded. 'Prat,' she thought as she glared back, before he turned his attention to the Minister. She continued her scan of the room, spotting a few more witches and wizards that she recognized, including the ever-so-arrogant Lucius Malfoy and of course, Cornelius Fudge, the chief official of the Wizengamot and rather corrupt Minister of Magic. Then there was the toad-like woman who sat beside him. Delores Umbridge, the Senior Undersecretary to Fudge, a vile woman who she had the unfortunate chance of meeting. To say that she had made a bad first impression with the toad was an understatement. The woman hated her from the start of their first meeting and it proceeded to worsen until Dumbledore was ready to leave Fudge's office that day.

She just hoped that her bad status with this woman wouldn't affect Harry's trial. Then again, she hated kids, so who knew what she would do anyway. Kat was lost in her thoughts until Dumbledore's voice brought her from her trance. The trial was now in session and it progressed slowly, Harry's testimony, Dumbledore defending her brother, accusations and praise from the Wizengamot, and Mrs. Figg's testimony. She had been listening intently to the proceedings but nearly jumped out of her seat when she heard her name being called.

She approached the chair that Dumbledore had conjured up for Mrs. Figg. "State your full name," came the ever-so-irritating voice of Fudge. "Katherine Lily Potter," she replied, her voice strong and clear, managing to hide the traces of annoyance that struggled to seep into her tone. "Where were you on the date in question?" he droned on, seeming rather bored with the trial. "With my brother," she replied. "Please give us your account of the evening, Ms. Potter." Kat proceeded to give them a matching account of her brother's story, "…It got really cold and I heard faint screaming, then two dementors came into the tunnel out of nowhere and attacked. One had Harry and the other had my cousin-" she was cut off by a girly cough that made her mentally cringe.

She turned her gaze to Umbridge. "Excuse me dear, but why did you not use your wand, as your brother had to defend yourself? It seems to me that if you were under attack, wouldn't you also have casted a spell, when your brother could not?" Her voice was sickly sweet and high-pitched, which reminded Kat of nails on a chalkboard. "I had forgotten it at my aunt and uncle's house. I reached for my wand, which is usually in my pocket and it wasn't there. Believe me, if I hadn't left it in our room I would be here now instead of Harry." Umbridge looked a bit put off by her response, but kept her mouth shut, finding no retort. "I still find it hard to believe that children of your age can even perform a fully fledged patronus charm, especially by the young age that you two apparently managed to conjure one at the age you claim to have first produced one," stated Fudge in his rather undeserved pompous tone.

"Well actually, we can," Kat's voice rang out, not even bothering to hide the irritation in her voice. "Well… prove it," he fired back in an almost childish tone. The girl rose from her seat, withdrawing her wand from her pocket. She paused a moment, thinking of a happy thought, the first time that she met Harry being the first one that popped into her head "Expecto Patronum," she whispered, causing a silver doe to emerge from the tip of her wand and proceeded to run around the room, eventually fading as she willed it. Most of the court stared at her dumbfounded. Fudge looked as if he had been slapped across the face, a look that pleased Kat greatly as she returned to her seat next to her brother, the twins sharing a small, smug glance before turning their attention back to the older wizards. She didn't notice the cold eyes of Lucius Malfoy watching and assessing her carefully. 'So,' he thought, 'she may be as powerful as the dark lord thought. I'll have to tell him immediately.'


	3. Chapter 3

There was a big celebration for Harry's triumph at his trial, the dark mood that had plagued the house was lifted, if only for the evening, bringing a little light into their lives in resistance to the darkness that was beginning to creep into the world since the rebirth of the dark lord. Kat was happy to see her brother seeing as he had been so glum the past few days at Grimmauld Place. It was nice to see him smile again.

She felt a pair of arms snake around her. "Hello George," she said softly. "Hey," he replied as he held her close, nuzzling his nose into her hair and inhaling deeply. He towered over her at least a full head taller than she was seeing as she was the same height as her brother. She turned around in his embrace, looking up into his eyes with a faint smile, placing her arms lightly around his neck.

George looked at the beautiful girl in his arms. Her fair skin seemed to give off a small glow, her perfect pink lips formed into a small smile. He held her slim figure tenderly as his hand moved through her silky black hair as he stared into her dazzling green eyes. He began to feel his infatuation for her heat up and ignite into full out lust that snatched logic and control from his conscious mind and allowed himself to give in to primal instinct. He leaned in, kissing her hungrily, which she returned somewhat eagerly. The kiss soon progressed to a full out snog as they backed into the living room, the door closing and locking behind them. Her hands tangled in his hair as his eagerly roamed her body while he guided her towards the couch where they sat down without breaking apart. Lust burned within each kiss as he slowly lowered her onto her back, his hands moving across the bare skin under her shirt, her hands still entangled in his short red hair.

He withdrew one of his hands, quickly beginning to unbutton her blouse; his lips began to trail down her jaw and neck before he was stopped by the sound of her voice, "George, I-." He looked at her, puzzled as to why she had stopped so suddenly, "Darling, what's wrong?" She sat up, an unreadable expression appearing on her pretty face, "I- I can't." She quickly stood up and with a wave of her wand her hair tidied itself, her blouse buttoned itself up, and her clothing straightened itself out before she quickly stole from the room leaving a sad and relatively confused George.

He watched her go. This wasn't the first time that she'd done this in the past few weeks, leaving him high and dry, so to speak. It wasn't like they hadn't had sex before, but recently she had been stopping before they went to far and leaving in some kind of tizzy. He was lucky to have her, hell, anyone was lucky to have her. She was intelligent, a strong personality, and yes, she was gorgeous. He knew many other guys who would kill to be in his position, yet she was his. Out of all of the other potentials, Katherine Potter chose him. But now, he began to question if she even wanted him anymore. He did care about her, he wasn't sure if it was love, but he truly cared about her and he wanted to know where they stood. Their relationship had always been shaky, especially considering the fact that they had been on and off over the last 2 years. He let out an exasperated sigh as he sunk down further on the couch beneath him.

The next few days passed by slowly. Kat and George were appearing to be constantly on edge around each other. Their fights were more frequent. Harry, Hermione, the Weasleys, and those that they were close with were well too aware of their quarrels and figured it best not to interfere. They were both extremely stubborn and often disagreed on the pettiest of things. George was frustrated with the rapid deterioration of their relationship and Kat was still bent out of shape from the incident at the party. Conflicting thoughts and emotions raged through her mind. Yes, she cared for George, but was it love? No, it couldn't be, why else would she have left the room on so many nights? It just didn't feel right anymore, nothing about their relationship seemed to feel right anymore. Her thoughts wandered over the next week and continued into their last week before they had to head off to school.

Hermione and Ron received their prefect badges and they had all gotten their supplies from Diagon Alley. Harry had been in a pissy mood even after the trial and Kat's dreams had been getting slightly worse. Almost every night she woke up drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. Hermione and Ginny were worried about their friend but they didn't press the matter, knowing that she would only push it away as nothing.

The Hogwarts Express was once again filled with students and in a particular compartment towards the back sat Harry and Katherine. Ron and Hermione had gone to the prefects' meeting. A girl named Luna Lovegood, who was in Ginny's year, was also seated with them but was currently engrossed in a copy of the Quibbler. Her long blonde hair was held back in a low ponytail. Kat was reading a rather large book and Harry was staring out the window. He turned, about to ask his sister something when the compartment door slid open. The twins looked up to see Neville Longbottom with a rather odd looking plant. Kat smiled at her long-time best friend.

Flashback

A 9 year-old Katherine Potter woke up with a start from her dream. Her skin was damp with sweat, her shoulder-length, jet-black hair clung to her pale skin. Her tiny body shook as her piercing green eyes flashed with fear as she tried to forget her most recent nightmare. Once she collected herself, she took in her surroundings. She recognized the familiar soundproofed room in St. Mungo's.

She closed her eyes, trying to remember how she had gotten there… she was walking towards the door, leaving Dumbledore's office when she stumbled a bit, grabbing onto the doorknob for support. She heard a shout then nothing.

She gingerly eased herself off of the bed. Her head spun a bit and she grabbed onto the bed for support until her mind cleared then slowly began making her way to the door. She was hit with a wave of dizziness as she opened the door, causing her to fall out into the hallway and into a boy, causing the two of them to fall over. "I'm so sorry, are you alright?" she asked as she struggled to get off of him. "I'm fine, thanks," he replied shyly as he helped her up, keeping her steady. He was about her age, his short brown hair and soft hazel eyes gave off a shy feeling that Kat sensed and liked. "I'm Katherine by the way," she said as he helped her back into her room. He smiled shyly at her as he helped her into bed, "I'm Neville, Neville Longbottom."

End Flashback

The two had been very close friends ever since. "Can I sit here? All of the others are taken," he asked. "Sure Neville," said Harry. Kat grinned at him as he sat in the available seat next to Luna. "Say, Neville, what exactly is that?" Harry asked, nodding to the odd plant in Neville's lap. "Mimbulus Mimbletonia," he replied proudly. Luna looked up from her copy of the Quibbler, now intrigued by the conversation. Neville began rambling on about the specimen he held.

"I'm going to go change into my uniform, I'll be back in a bit," Kat said to no one in particular, standing up and grabbing her uniform from her bag and left the compartment quietly so as not to disturb their conversation. They last think she wanted was to clean off the stink sap if Neville wanted to show off its defense mechanism. 10 minutes later she exited the bathroom and started to make her way back to the compartment. She hadn't seen George since they boarded the train. Neither of them had made up since their last fight and she knew that the end was near. The arguments were straining their already fragile relationship and she really didn't' know how much more she could take.

She was brought quickly from her thoughts by an all too familiar cool voice, "Hello love." She froze, cursing her luck. Quickly regaining her composure, she turned sharply to face the icy, blue gaze of Draco Malfoy. "What do you want Malfoy?" she spat venomously. "My, my, still feisty are we? I like it when you get like this; I think it's sexy. It's just another reason to love you," he replied, eying her greedily. He couldn't help but look at her, even in her school uniform he could tell that she had changed over the summer, everything about her seemed even more appealing to him. "Lust and infatuation have nothing to do with love, Malfoy," she hissed in disgust, her eyes flashing angrily. He smirked the oh-so-famous Malfoy smirk before she quickly turned on her heel and walked brusquely back to her compartment attempting to ignore the feeling of his eyes following her as she left.

Kat had calmed down as she arrived back at the compartment. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door finding Harry, Neville, and Luna almost as she had left them now dressed in their uniforms. "Hope you lot didn't miss me too much," she said with a grin as she sat next to her brother. "Oh, really? I didn't even realize you'd gone," Harry replied cheekily. Neville grinned goofily at her as she playfully shoved her brother. The faint odor of stink sap tickled her nostrils causing her to chuckle to herself. Harry glared playfully at his sister, knowing exactly what I was thinking.

We soon got into a discussion about the upcoming school ear and the dreaded O.W.L.s that would be given this year. Hermione and Ron eventually joined them, already dressed in their uniforms, their prefect badges now attached near the Gryffindor coat of arms on their robes. Hermione sat next to Kat and Ron sat in between Neville and Luna, the conversation quickly switching to the prefect meeting, informing them that Malfoy had also been made a prefect much to everyone's displeasure. The conversation soon changed again going back to talk of classes and such, eventually drifting to quidditch, which Kat, Harry, and Ron talked about excitedly. They all noticed that the train began to slow down. Kat looked out the window, a smile forming on her lips. They were home.


	4. Chapter 4

With the exception of Harry and Katherine seeing thestrals for the first time and of Harry nearly drooling over Cho Chang, the carriage ride to the castle was rather uneventful. Kat had to suppress the urge to laugh with some difficulty as she observed her brother's awkward behaviour towards the pretty Ravenclaw.

The sorting went on as it always did, slow and relatively boring as McGonagall made her way down the list of first years and the sorting hat placed each of the small, nervous children. Finally, Dumbledore rose to make his annual opening speech. The Great Hall went silent as all eyes were on the headmaster. After clearing his throat, he began to give the usual welcome speech and talk on school rules, warning everyone to be careful and whatnot. There was, however, a new addition to the speech involving the fact that Hagrid would be out for a while and introducing Professor Grubblyplank as his temporary replacement.

They all noticed Hagrid's absence; all Kat knew was that he was on some sort of Order business. They never filled her in on anything really. To be perfectly honest, she might as well have not been inducted in the first place. Dumbledore's speech went on as it usually did with the rules and such, but this time there were two new announcements, one being about Hagrid's absence. "We would also like to welcome Dolores Umbridge, who will be filling the Defense Against the Dark Arts post." Kat's eyes widened as she scanned the table, almost immediately spotting and recognising the toad-like face.

"No," she said softly, only loud enough for those around her to hear. Hermione threw her friend a questioning look before turning her attention back to Dumbledore. Kat followed suit until, "Hem hem!" an obnoxious, high-pitched female voice cleared its throat. It was quite possibly one of the most annoying sounds that she had ever heard. Dumbledore paused for a moment before he resumed talking. Then, like nails on a chalkboard, the voice came again only this time its owner, oh-so shockingly being the voice of Umbridge, who rose from her seat and boldly proceeded to make her way to the front of the teachers' table platform where Dumbledore stood, staring at her.

The Great Hall was completely silent, all of us in complete shock, including the Slytherins, that the headmaster was interrupted. The teachers looked just as astounded as the students were, Snape included. McGonagall's mouth formed a thin line (her trademark expression of irritation and in this case, anger) clearly looking as if she wanted to murder Umbridge. Dumbledore himself looked only slightly taken aback as the toad-of-a-woman finally reached where he stood, hiding his surprise with a half-hearted smile that did not reach his usually twinkling blue eye. Nobody ever interrupted Dumbledore.

All eyes were now on Umbridge who gazed at the students with her buggy eyes, clasping her fat hands together, beginning her ridiculous speech saying things like "We'll all be good friends" and other rubbish like that in her sickly sweet voice. "She was at my hearing," Harry said to Hermione and Ron, "She works for Fudge." Hermione narrowed her eyes, shooting the twins, namely Kat, an inquisitive glance the continued to pay attention to Umbridge's speech while Kat, who remained silent and had been completely oblivious to Harry's statement, had a look of utter disgust and perhaps traces of anger and potential loathing towards the woman.

After she finished her speech the hall remained quiet, unsure of what to do or how to react. Most shared a blank, weirded out expression on their faces. An awkward round of applause followed. Dumbledore then took the floor again, much to everyone's relief. He thanked her for her speech before continuing his own. To the approval of the students he kept it short, quickly summoning dinner. "What a load of rubbish," said Ron, his voice low so as not to draw attention to their conversation. "What do you think it means?" Harry asked, looking from Hermione to his sister, whom he realised had gone extremely quiet and appeared to have lost her appetite. "It means the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts," the girls replied together.

Although it had taken Hermione a good portion of the speech to figure this information out, Kat had worked it out the moment Dumbledore had announced Umbridge as the new DADA teacher. One of her worst fears had revealed itself and come to pass, the Ministry had come to Hogwarts, why, she had yet to figure out.


	5. Chapter 5

Kat's POV

The light left Cedric's eyes with a flash of green light as mine and Harry's screams cut through the night…

There was a door at the end of a hallway. It looked so familiar, Merlin, why did it look so familiar? It was just within my reach, my fingertips just grazing the doorknob, poised to open it before it all dissolved into black. There was nothing, only darkness and deafening silence. I felt cold in the black empty expanse. Chills went down my spine as evil laughter filled the air…

Third Person POV

She whirled around in an attempt to find the source. The rules of defensive magic and dueling flying through her mind, never turn your back on an opponent, always be on guard, and be ready for anything were the few that stood out in the current situation.

"Hello Katherine," came a cold voice from somewhere behind her in the dark void that surrounded her, the last voice that Kat, or anyone for that matter, wanted to hear. She spun around to find herself face to face with the Dark Lord himself. She was shocked to say the least, but quickly regained her composure, refusing to allow him to see weakness. "Tom," she replied, managing a rather stony-faced expression. His scarlet eyes flashed dangerously as his face contorted in anger, "Never call me that! I will not be called by my filthy muggle father's name!" Kat's fiery temper was also flaring, "What? Is being a half-blood that terrible Tom? Hm? Is it that much of a disgrace?" she found she could not control her growing anger that was being fueled by the dark wizard increasing infuriation with the bold half-blooded young witch. "Enough!" he bellowed, his eyes seemingly on fire as he simmered, glaring furiously at the young girl, the sister of Harry Potter, the enemy he had created.

Kat fought the urge to say something, knowing that it was unwise and that the outcome would not turn out well. The dark wizard breathed heavily in an attempt to regain his composure as Kat stared daringly at him, her piercing green eyes trained upon his snakelike features, studying every small expression that crossed over his face or passed through his eyes.

"Now Katherine," he said in a calmer yet icy tone, "I have a proposition for you." She said nothing but her eyes gave off the slightest hint of puzzlement that did not go unnoticed. Voldemort was enjoying this slight shift off balance in her usually solid level of confidence. His plan was working well. He could feel the churning spark of curiosity that began to grow. "Aren't you the least bit curious as to what I want to offer you?" he asked, his voice dripping with hidden venom that she could sense as it disguised itself with an attempt of innocent curiosity. Despite her relatively stony expression, he could still see a glint of interest in her piercing emerald eyes. His hopes to use this feeling against her seemed to be within his grasp.

"No, but it's not as if I have a choice, is it? You're just going to tell me anyway," she smartly replied, instantly beginning to shut down his attempts to gain the upper hand in this confrontation, her confidence beginning to rebuild itself. He grinned evilly, harbouring a mixture of deep-seated hatred and admiration for the raven-haired girl who stood before him, "From what I hear, you are an exceptionally talented, bright, and clever young witch-" She sighed before cutting him off sharply, "Get to the point." His red eyes flashed in annoyance as he hissed, "Hold your tongue girl!"

After a moment of glaring at her he regained his cool composure and cut to the point, "Join me Katherine Potter. Join my ranks. Your power and skill, from what I hear, are quite impressive, especially for one at your age. The potential that I have been told about, that I can see flows within you is far superior to most of my best and most powerful followers. You could be great you know. **I** could teach you to control the raw power that you possess," he noticed the doubtful yet intrigued look that swept over her features, "I know that you wish to know what you are truly capable of. I know that the questions of how powerful you really, truly can be and of what other powers that you could possibly possess are eating away at you. I can help answer them Katherine, I can help develop the gifts that were bestowed upon you if you will join me."

Kat listened, her temper beginning to boil once more, however, his questions of her potential intrigued her. Yes, she was curious and Dumbledore wasn't even bothering to help her along anymore, instead having Snape guide her as had been decided at headquarters before the start of the school year. "Do you honestly think that I'm that naïve?" she exclaimed incredulously, almost shouting as she lashed out at the dark wizard, "You killed my parents, my friend, and countless others whom I have know and many whom I have never met. Not to mention that you have, on several occasions, attempted to kill both my brother and me. So no, I will not nor will I ever accept your proposal." Her green eyes flashed in fury and disbelief too far gone to even regret her tone of voice when she saw the anger pass over his snakelike features. "I told you to hold your tongue!" She could hear the slight disappointment at her defiance in his voice as he withdrew his wand from his robes. She eyed it warily, managing to maintain a stony, angry expression as he pointed it at her, "Crucio!" Excruciating pain flooded her body, catching her off guard. Another rule of dueling crossed her mind, always be on guard and always anticipate your opponent's next move. His bone-chilling, wicked laughter filled the air once more as she writhed before him attempting to hold back the screams of agony, "Consider my offer Katherine…"

Kat gasped, her eyes shooting open as she sat up in bed. She was drenched in sweat, shaking terribly and breathing heavily. The pain subsided instantly, but it felt so real. Her dreams had been getting worse, but none were like this. This dream was too real, almost as if she had physically been there. The pain was undeniably real, but that would mean… no, he couldn't. Could he?

"Kat?" her head snapped to find Hermione's worried face. It was just the two of them in their dorm room due to Kat's "condition," so no one else would be disturbed. Hermione looked at her friend with obvious concern etched onto her pretty face, "Kat, what's wrong? What did you dream about?" The poor girl looked at her friend and broke down; her already trembling body began to shake violently. Hermione rushed to her side hugging her in an attempt to calm her. She had begun talking in her sleep, mostly mumbling as she usually did on bad nights, but tonight, the mumbling got progressively louder, into an audible half of a conversation, then, letting out groans and whimpers of pain, she began thrashing and writhing in her sleep, her face contorted into on of severe pain. Hermione had never seen it this bad.

Harry's POV

I saw my sister break down over Cedric's lifeless body. I turned to face his murderer and found myself in the hallway that haunted my dreams almost every night now. It looked so familiar. I approached the door. I was almost at the knob then it all went black. There was nothing but silence. Evil laughter filled the air, then a shout. It was quiet for a while, then, groans of pain, whimpering, my sister…

My eyes shot open as I sat up. Something was wrong with Kat. I knew it. I could feel it. I grabbed my broom as quietly as I could and opened the window kicking off into the crisp night air, making sure to close the window most of the way behind me. I flew to her window, hoping to see her peacefully asleep. Instead I found a tired looking Hermione trying to comfort my clearly terrified and somewhat hysterical sister. I gently knocked on the window, causing Hermione's gaze to turn to my direction. Instead of the expected death glare, she gave me a relieved look, giving my twin a final hug and whispering what I could only guess to be a few more calming words to her before walking over to the window and letting me in. I dismounted once inside and walked quickly over to Kat, who had her head in her hands, shaking like a leaf.

I sat down beside her, pulling her into my arms, rubbing her back, murmuring comforting words as she had done so many times for me. I had never seen her in such a state before and to say it was unnerving to see my usually calm and collected sister reduced to a sobbing, quivering mess was an understatement. She began to calm down, her breath becoming even and less panicked. "Shh, it was only a dream Kat, I promise. It's okay. I'm here now, I've got you," I whispered as my hand had taken to soothingly stroke her hair. We stayed like that, both of us falling asleep on her bed. We dreamt of nothing, our minds clear and allowing us to sleep peacefully in each other's company.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry left before the boys in his dormitory would wake up. He gave his sister a hug and a kiss on the forehead before mounting his broom to fly out the open window. "Thank you Harry," she whispered so not to wake up Hermione. He gave her a smile as he kicked off and flew out of the room. She closed the window behind him, going back to bed for another hour or so before she would have to wake up for breakfast and first day of classes.

The girls met the boys in the common room before heading down to breakfast. They compared schedules, finding that they all had the same classes together, as per usual (with, of course, the exception of Divination, seeing as Hermione had stormed out of it refusing to return two years prior). Kat was still on a time turner schedule since she was in both OWL and NEWT level classes. Ron was still completely oblivious to the use of time turners within the school's curriculum and the fact that two of his best friends had used them. Judging by the amount of classes that she was taking, Kat figured that this would be her last year with such a schedule and she was very certain that she would willingly be handing her time turner in for the last time when school came to a close.

George caught up with her after breakfast, greeting her with a kiss before offering to walk with her to their first classes of the day. He snaked an arm around her waist as they walked. Both seemed rather uncomfortable with each other as they walked, unsure of the stability of their rapidly crumbling relationship. He pulled her close, almost possessively as he clearly attempted to reassert his position as her boyfriend. He wanted nothing more than to make things work between them and he was clinging to the last shreds of hope that remained. He could tell that he was losing her if he hadn't already. Kat seemed to have accepted the failure of their relationship and wasn't sure of how much longer that they could keep up this clearly strained charade of affection that they were exhibiting. She was about ready to move on and he wasn't ready to let go. The others could sense the couple's tension as they attempted to converse with each other as they made their way to their classrooms. When they parted, George gave Kat a lingering hug and a kiss that lasted a little longer than necessary before walking off in the direction of his first class.

They had double potions with the Slytherins first and they joined their fellow classmates who had gathered outside of the room and were chattering quietly amongst themselves. "Kat, what's going on with you and George? You both seem a bit off. It's been this way since we all started living at Sirius'," Hermione asked, pulling her friend aside as they waited for Snape to open the door. "I don't know Hermione," she replied, with a somewhat confused yet resigned expression clear on her face, "I like him, but more as a friend I think. Maybe more as a brother even? I dunno… I don't think that I can really do this anymore." Hermione gave her a sympathetic look before their attention shifted to the sound of the door handle clicking as their potions master opened the door to the classroom, allowing the students to enter. The girls quickly made their way over to the boys who were standing with Neville and Dean. Seamus still wouldn't talk to Harry after their little stand off in the common room.

Snape's hard glare found Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but softened ever so slightly as it came across Kat. None of them seemed to notice however, considering they were all preoccupied with other things. Kat was distracted telling off Malfoy, who was yet again both pestering and making passes at her as she tried, with little success to ignore him. She was very close to hexing him to oblivion when Harry finally pulled her away. "Thank you," she muttered softly, attempting to regain her composure as he sat her down between him and Ron. She was used to this kind of behaviour from Malfoy, but she was tired and wasn't really in the mood for him today.

Everyone quieted down as Snape made his presence known, signifying that class had indeed begun. After a rather brief introduction, he began to pair off students and assign their workspaces. He placed Harry, Ron, Hermione, and many other unlucky Gryffindors with Slytherins. Out of some fantastic piece of luck, Kat was paired with Neville as Snape muttered something along the lines of Neville perhaps managing to brew a potion successfully without it blowing up or going horribly wrong. She gave her long time friend a reassuring smile as they sat down at their table near the back of the classroom.

Her luck ran out unfortunately, when Malfoy and his partner were seated behind them. Malfoy couldn't have been happier with the seating arrangement. He could make fun of Longbottom and he could pester and flirt shamelessly with Kat. It was, for lack of a better word, perfect. He liked her when she got frustrated. He thought that it made her look even more attractive than she already was. He loved her feisty attitude that drew him in further. The fact that she was Pott-head's sister was a plus, but not the top, deciding factor of his rather strong attraction to her.

They spent the rest of class with a brief lecture on antidotes to poisons. He assigned a 24-inch essay on the history and use of bezoars. All of their classes dragged on, especially Kat's, considering her rather ridiculous schedule consisting of about eight or nine classes. Both Harry and Hermione thought she was mad for taking such a large time turner schedule. By lunch, Kat had accumulated homework that had piled up from the five classes that she had taken already. She was glad that they only had one class left for the day, but that gladness stopped there. They all had Defense Against the Dark Arts next and none of them were looking forward to it. It would be their first class with Umbridge and everyone was completely unsure of what to expect.

"Blimey Kat… how much homework do you have?" Ron asked in disbelief as he eyed her rather large pile of books and parchment. "A lot is all you need to know Ronald," she sighed in mock irritation. "It just seems like too much is all," he replied, giving her a look of sympathy, shaking his head. Hermione couldn't help but agree with him. "Bloody Hell, even Hermione thinks it's too much," he exclaimed causing Harry to laugh at his over enthusiasm, almost choking on the food that he had currently been chewing. Kat just rolled her eyes and returned to her Transfiguration reading with a small smile on her lips.

They were all seated in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom chatting aimlessly as they awaited Umbridge's arrival. Parvati Patil had set off an enchanted paper bird that was flying gracefully around the room much to everyone's entertainment. Malfoy and his goons were sitting in the back, batting at it as it flew above them. It was just above Parvati's desk when it burst into flames and drifted sadly down, landing in front of her. "Hem, hem." Kat cringed as they all turned to face the back of the room to find Umbridge with her wand out.

"Good afternoon, children," she squealed, her voice the ever-so-cringe worthy high-pitched and girly voice that held an edge of hostility, "Let's talk about Ordinary Wizarding Level exams or O-W-L's." She began to walk forward, drawing the class' attention to the chalkboard at the front of the room as she enchanted a piece of chalk that wrote as she dictated. "I am here to teach you a safe, Ministry approved method of defensive magic," she continued, the overly sweet smile never leaving her face, "So, if you'll please put away your wands and take out your textbooks. You will begin reading the introduction and chapter one." Everyone froze. "We're not using magic?" someone asked, breaking the heavy shock-induced silence. "Why, no… It's dangerous to use spells against each other in the classroom. As I said, we **will** be using a Ministry approved method to keep the learning environment as safe as possible," she replied, placing emphasis on the "will," the Cheshire like grin spreading its way across her face as she asserted her authority.

"Then how are we supposed to actually use the spells when we need to defend ourselves?" ask Harry, the entire class' gaze shifting to focus onto him. The toad-woman's smile faltered as she answered, "My dear boy, why would you _ever_ need to use these spells outside school-" "Because Voldemort's back! I saw him! I fought him!" he interrupted, rising from his seat, voice rising, his incredibly short temper flaring. "Harry," came his sister's calming voice, barely above a whisper with a very stern undertone to get him to shut up before he made his situation worse, but to no avail. "Now, you can't just go saying something and expect everyone to believe it just because you say so," she replied angrily, a rather grotesque attempt of a smile sweeping over her ugly features. "Oh, so you think that Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord," he fired back, earning another hiss to shut up from Kat. "Detention, Mr. Potter!" Umbridge fumed, her voice near a shout, almost losing her temper. The class went silent, unsure of what to make of the current situation between the Boy Who Lived and the Ministry official turned teacher. Malfoy was clearly enjoying the whole thing, barely able to contain the amused grin that was fighting to make its presence known. Kat sat rigid in her chair, just barely managing to contain her anger at the vile woman.

"Now," began the toad once she had regained her composure, "Please open up your books and read chapter one." Both Kat and Hermione had read the textbook and had found it to be complete and utter rubbish. The girls reluctantly opened their books, pretending to read. Kat's anger and raw power was screaming to be released and objects around them had begun to tremble ever so slightly. Luckily, only Hermione had seemed to notice and placed her hand gently on her friend's shoulder. Her touch managed to brig Kat from her angry trance, barely soothing her.

The rest of the day dragged on, much to Kat's dismay. Defense Against the Dark Arts, once one of her favourite classes, had now become one of her worst and was now taught by one of the people that she absolutely detested beyond all reason.

Kat and George were having yet another fight as they entered the common room later that evening after dinner. The golden trio and Fred stayed clear of them as they bickered. Insults were flying back and forth in an impressive array of wit. They went on like that for a solid five minutes before George, one of the certified masters of wit, had run out of insults. He was speechless. The others were shocked and Kat stood infuriated, yet triumphant. The two were breathing heavily staring at each other as the others cleared the room to give them some space. She looked at him expectantly, mentally pushing him to say something, anything to break the silence.

He said nothing, bracing himself for the impending conversation that would inevitably end in realising his recent fears. "I've been thinking a lot recently," she started. "You've always done that," he said in a feeble attempt to make some humour to lighten the tense mood that had overtaken them. She took a deep breath, sitting down on the couch as she spoke, "I've been thinking about us, George." She hated to see his usually jovial expression crumble, but this needed to be done. "I can't do this anymore George," she said, breaking the uncomfortable, tension-filled silence, her voice taking on a less harsh tone. "Can't do what, love?" he asked cautiously. "This!" she exclaimed, "I can't pretend anymore. I can't lie to myself that this is working." He slowly made his way to her side, sitting beside her on the couch and placed a hand on hers, "We don't have to pretend, you know how I feel about you Kat." He gave her hand a light squeeze, lightly caressing the back of it with his thumb.

"What happened to us George?" she asked, "We used to be best mates and now all we ever do is fight." He looked down at their hands, "I dunno Kat." She sighed, swallowing the lump that had begun to form in her throat, "I miss what we had. I miss what we were like before… before we…" He looked up at her with sadness in his eyes, "Before we started dating." She nodded, unable to respond. There was a long pause as the two of them looked anywhere but into each other's eyes. "I think," she said, breaking the agonising silence between them, "I think that it's best we split up. I love you George, but not in the way that you want. We're not right for each other and you deserve a girl who cares for you the way that you do me." He said nothing for a few moments, processing the words that had come out of her mouth. He nodded slowly, knowing that this was a fight that he was not going to win. "Okay," he replied softly, the hurt clear in his voice. "Can we still be friends?" she asked hopefully. "Yeah," he replied, trying to smile and lighten the clearly hurt mood that he had fallen into the instant the words had left her mouth. "Good," she replied gently, hugging him tightly before standing up to leave, bidding him goodbye as she headed up the stairs to her dormitory, leaving him alone in the common room.


	7. Chapter 7

HP 7 Revised

A few weeks had passed since Kat and George's split. The others were all somewhat relieved that they would no longer have to mediate their fights. Kat appeared to have bounced back rather quickly, somehow managing to exude a rather chipper attitude. However, her dreams had not been getting any better. Thankfully none were like the one that had occurred on the first night of school. She continued on with a resilient temperament, refusing for the dreams to put a damper on her days.

George, on the other hand, was clearly not taking the break up very well at all. He attempted to put up a rather successful front for Kat and others, but most, especially the golden trio, his siblings, and his close friends. He was trying so desperately to move on and shut all affectionate thoughts that ranged past a sisterly level from his mind. He missed her… if only she missed him too.

"Today class, we will be brewing a healing potion for deep and mortal wounds," the potions master droned in his stereotypical monotone voice, "Turn to page 234 of your textbooks and begin." His droll voice seemed to have a slight tinge of boredom laced within. The students opened their texts with the robotic, typical motions of the day, many issuing a sigh or grumbling as they did so.

Snape watched with amusement as Harry fumbled through his potion, loving to watch the boy's clear look of irritation as the ingredients seemed to have some kind of personal vendetta against him as they always seemed to do. His gaze swept to the boy's twin sister, his amusement only growing at her brother's misfortune as she breezed through hers. Katherine was, as had been mentioned many a time to her before, was a spitting image of her mother in looks and in personality. The identical hair colour to her brother along with the several similar personality traits that she shared both with her brother and her father (namely her love for pranking and her sometimes cocky demeanour) marred her fair resemblance to Lily.

He walked around, inspecting the often dreadful potions that his students were brewing, many of their potions the incorrect shade of blue, some being too dark, others the wrong colour all together. Seamus Finnegan had already managed to cause his brew to spark and explode in his face, earning snickers from some of his classmates. Kat's however was the perfect shade of blue as she stirred it with a precision that could only be attributed to Lily Potter. She, like her mother, had a knack for potions, one that Snape was grateful for, her resemblance to Lily was almost uncanny when she was working in class, right down to the small furrow in her brow as she concentrated on the directions.

Kat was kind, not arrogant like her father had been, which was evident in how she helped poor, pathetic little Longbottom with his potion when she could and at times when she thought the professor wasn't watching. Although he had indeed watched her aid her fellow Gryffindor, Snape could not find it within himself to deduct points from her and instead allowed her to continue without acknowledgement or punishment.

She flasked hers after giving one last helpful hint to Neville and proceeded up to the potions master's desk, handing him the completed potion. She was the first to hand hers in, receiving 10 points to Gryffindor for her quickness and stunning accuracy in producing a perfect potion upon inspection of the professor. She shot her brother a sympathetic look as she passed, seeing his potion was a very dark blue colour, almost nearing a black shade. As Snape made another round checking the progress of his students, he was greatly amused by the rather pitiful comparison of the Potter twins' potions, nearly grinning at Harry's blatant failure to produce a somewhat decent potion.

"I bloody hate potions," Harry fumed as the four of them entered the common room. Ron let out a groan of agreement as the two boys simultaneous plopped down on the couch by the fireplace. Hermione rolled her eyes as she sat down in one of the overstuffed chairs, beginning the assignment that Snape had given them, "Honestly you two, if you would just pay attention and follow the instructions you would do fine!" The three of them began to bicker and argue about potions while Kat merely chuckled as she began one of her many homework assignments with a rather highly amused look on her face.

"Kat," came the slightly whiny and vexed voice of her twin brother. "Yes, Harry," she replied more as a statement then a question, sounding more like an impatient mother responding to her winging child, not looking up from her work. "Why is it that you brew brilliantly potions effortlessly and I can't even brew the simplest ones for shite?" Her gaze flickered up to meet his frustrated stare, "I dunno Harry, enlighten me. How am I supposed to know? Genetics? The fact that Snape for some reason completely despises you? The very real possibility that you don't pay attention to the instructions given in class? You tell me!" she exclaimed, her stare matching his level of irritation. She hated when he compared himself to her, their lives weren't a competition, although sometimes she felt they were treated as such and it most certainly did not help that she had an almost equally short temper like her brother. She was better at internalising as opposed to his rather impulsive lack of self-control. He shrugged, at a loss for words, allowing her to return to the assignment on her lap.

The boys eventually headed up to their dorm room preferring to put off the homework that they had accumulated over the span of the day, choosing instead to relax a bit before dinner. The girls, however, remained where they were doing their homework so they wouldn't have to worry about doing it over the weekend, seeing as it was Friday. There was quidditch practice after dinner and Harry had his last detention with Umbridge. Kat was to play seeker in his absence.

She was a brilliant seeker, although not nearly as good as her brother, but she was an even better chaser. Quidditch was in her blood and she knew it. Just like her father, she was an excellent flyer, a natural at the position who was known for her very quick reflexes, agility on her broom, and powerful throw, not to mention her deadly aim. In every sense of quidditch she stepped into the full physical embodiment of her father's skill and talent in the sport and out from the realm of her mother's shadow.

Dinner was rather uneventful with Hermione lecturing Ron about neglected prefect duties while Kat was trying to cheer her brother up. He was understandably glum as he prepared himself mentally to suffer through another torture-filled punishment from Old Toad Face, as Ron had dubbed her. She gave him a warm hug before they all parted ways, he to detention, she to practice with Ron, and Hermione to the library.

Kat was trying to give Ron's confidence level a little boost as they walked to the quidditch pitch, brooms in hand. Her words of encouragement seemed to have been slightly successful until they passed a group of Slytherins who, as if on cue, promptly began to chant, "Weasley is our King," completely shattering what little progress she had made at rebuilding Ron's seemingly constantly deteriorating self-esteem. His cheeks and ears burned red as his confidence level plummeted to the dark abyss once more. "Don't listen to the mate," she said soothingly, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder as they continued to walk. "But they're right!" he exclaimed, clearly teetering on the edge of defeat, "I'm rubbish Kat." She sighed, dropping her hand from his shoulder, "No, Ron. You're not rubbish. You've been improving so much!" He looked somewhat unconvinced, causing her to sigh once more, "If you're really that concerned about this Ron, I'll help you with some extra practice, okay?" He gave her a grateful look, attempting a half-hearted smile, "Thanks mate, you're the best." She gave him a warm, reassuring smile as they reached the pitch, "No problem Ron."

"Hey, Angelina," Kat said with a small smile as she greeted the clearly frazzled quidditch captain who had a mixed expression of a frown, stress, and what seemed to be an attempt of a smile that came out more as a grimace. "Hey Kat," she replied as the rest of the team filtered out onto the pitch. "Harry has his last detention tonight, he'll be ready to play by the match tomorrow," she said softly, so as not to further agitate the edgy girl in front of her. "Good," she answered curtly, "He better be on top of his game, we're playing Ravenclaw and from what I hear, they have a fairly strong team this year." Kat could tell that she was worried about the team, "He will be, don't worry. Do you want me to work with Ron?" Angelina looked at her friend with a relieved expression plastered on her face, "Could you?" Kat nodded with a smile. "Thanks, Kat, that'd be brilliant. Katie and I'll work with the others." Kat nodded, grabbing a quaffle and swiftly mounting her broom. Ron followed suit, trailing behind her up to the hoops with an uneasy look on his face.

They worked together for the whole practice, each throw and exercise increasing in difficulty and power with Kat coaxing Ron onward. The constant stream of pointers and words of encouragement were helping to rebuild the damaged confidence that the Slytherins had harshly inflicted upon the poor boy. His overall skills as a keeper were improving. Their first match was tomorrow and Kat was hoping that Ron's low and now slowly building self-confidence in both himself and the sport would hold up against the sure-to-be-cruel taunts from the Slytherin spectators.

Harry's POV

My hand was killing me after my detention with Umbridge. The phrase "I must not tell lies" was etched painfully into the back of my hand. I nursed it gently as I walked to the common room, cradling it to my side. I finally reached the Fat Lady's portrait mumbling the password, walking in as soon as she swung open. I found the room to be mostly empty with the exception of three very familiar figures situated on the couch and chairs by the fireplace. My sister's eyes were on me the moment I set a foot through the portrait hole. I sometimes forgot how strongly connected we are, that we could always sense the presence of the other wherever we were.

The other two quickly followed her gaze when they realised that Kat had abandoned their previous conversation. "Hey mate," Ron greeted me with a small smile, "Missed you at quidditch practice." I weakly returned the smile, plopping down on the couch next to my sister with a sigh. She instantly took my injured hand by the wrist, her fast reflexes catching me off guard before I could utter any words of protest. She inspected the writing that was now deeply carved into my hand, wincing as she did so.

"Oh, Harry," she sighed sympathetically, conjuring up a bowl of essence of murtlap. Either she or Hermione had provided it for me since my first detention with the Toad. I knew that she was silently chiding me for not going to Dumbledore about the method of torture that the clearly mad woman seemed to delight herself in subjecting students to. She held herself back, knowing that she would react in the same way if she were in my position, hell she was already doing this with her dreams, no matter how many times we suggested that she tell the headmaster, or even McGonagall. "Thanks, Kat," I hissed in pain as I gingerly placed my aching hand into the soothing liquid. "No problem," she replied with a warm smile, "It's what I'm here for."

"So, is Angelina still mad at me?" I asked, feeling the essence of murtlap begin to take of the pain's edge. "A bit," replied Kat, "She'll get over it, especially now that your detentions are finished. She said you have to be on top of your game tomorrow. I said you would be. I know you will." I nodded with a sigh, hoping that what she said was true. "On a happier note, Ron's been improving loads!" Kat piped up, her eyes lighting up briefly. Ron smiled sheepishly, "She's been brilliant mate, Kat's helped me with everything." I grinned at my sister, "You ready for the match tomorrow?" Ron's face dropped as Kat nodded, a large grin forming on her lips, "As always." I chuckled at her cocky tone. Hermione noticed Ron's rather worried expression and decided to change the subject for his sake, uttering a few words of encouragement to him before leading us into a conversation about classes and classmates until we headed off to bed for the night.


	8. Chapter 8

The roar of the crowd was near deafening as Kat scored 10 points for Gryffindor. She zoomed off with a grin, readying herself for the quaffle to make it's way back up the pitch. Harry stayed at a safe distance above the stadium, applauding for his sister while keeping an eye out for the tiny golden ball that was flying about somewhere in the game. A nervous Ron hovered tensely in front of the hoops. The score was 40-10 Gryffindor. Kat and the other chasers managed to keep a lot of pressure off of Ron. He had surprised himself by saving most of the few shots on the Gryffindor hoops. Fred and George had been protecting Kat and the other chasers, doing the best that they could, deflecting as many bludgers as they could away from their teammates.

The Ravenclaw Team managed to make their way about three quarters of the way down the pitch before Angelina intercepted the quaffle. She quickly passed it to Katie Bell who made it to the Ravenclaw side before passing to Kat. After a short bit of weaving her way past the players, she saw the opportunity and lobbed the quaffle into the center hoop. The keeper didn't stand a chance as it whizzed past them, earning another 10 points for Gryffindor. The crowd erupted into cheers and chants of "Gryffindor! Kat Potter!" from the Gryffindor section and boos from the Slytherin and Ravenclaw sections as Kat high fived Katie and Angelina when they repositioned themselves. No one noticed that Malfoy uttered no snide comments whenever she scored. He eyed her hungrily as he always did, but there was something else in his gaze, something he couldn't place.

The match continued on, neither Harry nor Cho had spotted the snitch. Ravenclaw managed to score a few more times paving the way for the discouraging chant of "Weasley is our king" from the Slytherins. Ron's confidence began to diminish but remained somewhat intact from the countering shouts of encouragement from his teammates and his house.

The Gryffindor team managed to score seven more times four of which were by Kat before Harry finally spotted the snitch. He instantly sped off after it, Cho following suit as they trailed it around the stadium. He went into a dive, hand outstretched, poised to catch the tiny golden blur ahead. Cho followed but soon pulled out, not having the skill or the guts to pursue Harry and the snitch.

Around the same time that Harry had begun chasing the snitch Kat had regained possession of the quaffle. She spiraled into a dive to avoid both a bludger and an incoming chaser and began plummeting to the ground full speed. She abruptly pulled out of it and sharply veered up and too the left in a seemingly effortless manner. As Harry's hand closed around the snitch, Kat had lobbed the quaffle through the left hoop. "Kat Potter with another 10 points for Gryffindor and Harry Potter's caught the snitch!" boomed the extremely exited voice of Lee Jordon over the rumble of the equally excited crowd, "Gryffindor wins! Final score 280-100." The Gryffindor section went wild and the rain that had been threatening to pour began to fall.

Later

There was a party in the Gryffindor common room that evening. Fred and George had managed to smuggle in kegs of butterbeer and a couple bottles of firewhiskey for the older students. Kat drank a few shots of it, as had many of the others, although some had more than others. Even Hermione downed a shot, much to everyone's surprise.

Kat managed to slip out through the portrait hole when she got the chance, no one noticing her leave. Normally she would feel nervous excitement on nights like these, but thankfully the firewhiskey had taken off the edge. She expertly maneuvered her way through the castle, noiselessly making her way down the network of corridors.

She stood by the window, staring blankly at the rain as it beat against the glass. A pair of strong arms suddenly wrapped around her waist, warm lips pressed lightly, yet hungrily to her neck. "I've been looking for you, murmured the boy, who kissed her shoulder, sending shivers down her spine. "Hello Draco," she replied softly shivering in pleasure as his hands began to roam lower, letting out a soft moan when his lips found the weak spot on her neck. She felt him smirk against her skin before he began to nibble at it, causing her to push herself against his firm body. "Draco," she gasped, managing to free herself from his heavenly embrace before they got any further, his hand had been fiddling with the button of her jeans.

She turned to face him, her vivid green eyes connecting with his icy blue gaze. No words needed to be said as he grabbed her hand and rushed off to the nearest broom cupboard. The unlikely pair had been sneaking around since a few days after she and George had split up. It had started when he cornered her in a hallway and started up yet another heated argument, which somehow ended in a full out, heated snog. Since that encounter, they had chosen to be something along the lines of friends with benefits. She felt guilty about the fact that neither her best friends, nor her brother knew about it. But currently, this guilt was not foremost in her thoughts as they entered the cupboard.

As soon as the door locked behind them, he pushed her up against the wall, his lips instantly attached to hers in frenzied, lustful kisses. Her hands tangling themselves in his hair as his began to roam her body, wasting no time in unbuttoning her plaid flannel shirt. He slipped off her shirt, never once removing his lips from hers, his hands soon returning to her waste and instantly proceeding to explore her now bare upper body, her bra was discarded soon afterward, allowing his hands freedom to roam. She slid her hands from his silky blonde locks and ran them up and down his chest before starting to quickly unbutton his typical black button down.

In no time, they had rid themselves of their clothing. Kat, who had been running her hands over his muscular torso, felt her hands being pinned against the wall beside her head as he began to work his way down her jaw line and down her neck kissing and nipping as he went. He teased her, for a while longer until he finally gave her what she wanted, what they both wanted. He lifted her enough, using the wall for support and pushed into her, beginning their usual night of ecstasy.

Two hours later, Draco and Kat emerged, walking back to the window where he had found her earlier. He wrapped his arms around her as she turned to face him, drawing her in for a kiss. "I'm tired of all of this sneaking around, love," he said softly, rubbing her back, delicately. "So am I. I hate the secrecy and I hate lying to everyone about where I've been disappearing to," she murmured, nodding her head in agreement. "I'm glad you think that," he started, almost nervously (if anyone had been observing his reactions and tone of voice they would think that Malfoy was completely out of character), "Kat, I've been thinking about us. Will you be my girlfriend? It would solve this current dilemma of fooling around in secret and it would also solve the problem of where we stand in terms of this relationship." And like that the nerves that had managed to seep into his voice vanished without a trace and the calm, cool, and collected Draco Malfoy had returned, treating the question almost like a business proposition.

Her eyes widened in shock as she processed the words that had come out of her lover's mouth. "Yes, I will," she replied after a moment to regain her composure, earning a smile from Draco, not his signature smirk, but a genuine smile. The kissed softly one last time before departing to their common rooms, thus beginning the relatively long and rather complicated relationship between the Slytherin Prince and the Gryffindor Princess.


	9. Chapter 9

Kat was anxiously awaiting the end of History of Magic. It was her last class of the day and like everyone else, she wanted the day to end, but this particular reason was only a small fraction of why she was truly nervous. She was going to tell her brother about her relationship with Draco. She was dreading his reaction, knowing he wouldn't take the news well. But she also knew his reaction would be far worse if he found out elsewhere, for example the relentless school gossip that spread like wild fire. Her knee bounced in her nervous anticipation of the end of class. The bell rang and everyone sprang up from his or her seats, gathering their books up as quickly as possible, and darted out the door. Kat was one of the first out the classroom, tearing her way down the hall, hoping to catch Harry in the Common Room before everyone else would flood the room doing Merlin-knows-what.

She was in luck, walking in to find Harry, Ron, and Hermione sitting in their usual spots by the fireplace chatting away. She gulped, taking a deep breath before slowly making her way to sit down in one of the armchairs. Each step felt incredibly heavy as she made her way over, and with each step the guilt of dampening their light mood(s) became greater. "Hey Kat," Harry greeted her with a smile. "Hey," she replied, acknowledging her brother and two friends. Ron gave her a smile and a nod and Hermione gave her a somewhat reassuring smile. "How was History of Magic?" her brother asked with mock enthusiasm. "Oh it was fantastic!" she stated sarcastically, "Binns gave another one of his riveting speeches. I learned loads!" The four chuckled at that, none enjoying that class.

Hermione cleared her throat while staring at Kat, urging her to tell Harry the truth. "Harry, I need to tell you something…" she began, uneasiness clear in her voice. "What is it?" he asked, his smile fading as he noticed Kat was biting her lip and dropping her gaze slightly, both telltale signs that something was wrong. "Please don't be mad with me," she continued, stopping again. "I won't be mad at you," he said softly, attempting to keep calm, "What's wrong Kat?" She took a deep, shaky breath before she blurted out, "Malfoy asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes."

Ron's jaw had clearly dropped, Hermione looked unsure, and Harry was clearly in shock. "You… you said yes…" he managed to stutter out. She nodded, figuring it was safe not to say anything. "You," said Ron in an equally shocked voice, "you and Malfoy?" She nodded once more. "You're really his girlfriend?" he asked again, unable to process this new information. "I think that she made that very clear Ronald," Hermione scolded, shooting her friend an apologetic look. "So let me get this straight," Harry finally spoke up," Malfoy asked you to be his girlfriend and you said _yes_?" Kat rolled her eyes, "Yes!" "Kat, of all people!" Harry blurted out, clearly getting aggravated, "You hate him, all he does is hit on you and every bloody time you'd turn him down! What in bloody hell possessed you to agree to be his girlfriend?"

Kat just rolled her eyes again, "Oh, come off it Harry!" His temper flared as he nearly jumped out of his seat when he stood, "He's a total git! All he does is insult us, insult our friends, everyone you care about Kat!" he shouted. " Yes. I know! I know what he does Harry! **Do not patronize me!**" Kat rose from her seat fuming, things around them in the room began to tremble, her control slipping slightly. Hermione and Ron looked at the twins uneasily, both thankful no one had entered the Common Room for fear someone might see and Kat's careful attempt at keeping her ability a secret would be destroyed. "It's my life Harry not yours. He's different with me, sweet even. Yes, he can be a total prick, but he shows me a gentler side. I'm not going to break up with him just because **you** don't like him," she continued, her voice strong, just below shouting, "I don't like Cho at all, but do I tell you to stop pursuing her? No, I say nothing because I'm not one to get in the way of whom you fancy. So back off!"

With that she stormed out of the room and up to the girl's dormitories, leaving a speechless Harry, a slightly afraid Ron, and a worried Hermione. "Well done Harry," she scolded as she stood from her seat on the couch and sped off after her friend to calm her down. "I… I just can't believe she said yes to that git," mumbled Ron, earning a scoff and nod of agreement from Harry. "But Hermione's right mate," Ron stated, remaining in his seat, "You didn't really handle that well at all." "Thanks Ron, that makes me feel loads better," he retorted sarcastically, plopping down into the armchair that is his sister had occupied minutes before.

Later

Kat lay in Draco's arms, her head resting on his bare chest. Their nude bodies covered by his silk bed sheets. He held her loosely with one arm as he continued to sleep. She was awake listening to his steady heartbeat and feeling his deep, steady breaths as his chest moved up and down. She looked up, studying his handsome and strong features that were graced by a serene expression that made him look almost innocent, perhaps even angelic. She smiled to herself, reveling in this rare moment with her boyfriend. Several minutes passed and he began to stir, yawning as he woke. He looked down at his girlfriend sleepily, taking her hand in his free one. "Morning, darling," she said softly. "Morning," he replied kissing the top of her head. "Last night was fantastic love," he said with a smile. "It was," she replied somewhat dreamily, not finding a need to further elaborate on her feelings about Draco's godliness in bed. He knew what she thought of his skills in the bedroom and it always brought a satisfied smirk to his lips. "You never fail to impress me Katherine," he said softly, gently grabbing her chin and pulling her lips to his.

Kat loved when he was like this. She got to see the side of Draco that he hid so well from the rest of the world, the tender, sweet side that only she had the permission to see. He ran a hand gently down her side, sending chills down her spine. He loved that he had this kind of effect on her, getting her to quiver at his touch. His hand continued to roam up and down her side before brushing it over her chest. Kat knew he loved to get her all worked up and to be honest, he had a ridiculously massive effect on her. Oh, if he only could comprehend what he did to her. In one quick movement, he had flipped her onto her back, throwing the sheets off, and straddling her. "Why don't we have a full demonstration of what we did last night?" he asked suggestively. And like that the sweet Draco vanished and was replaced with the Slytherin Prince (persona). Kat sighed in pleasure as he trailed kisses down her jaw and neck, already feeling very aroused by her boyfriend's _encouraging_ actions. It was Saturday and Draco didn't plan on allowing her to leave his room for at least another few hours.


	10. Chapter 10

Harry and Kat had not spoken to each other for a week now, both too stubborn to make amends. Ron and Hermione had attempted to get them on speaking terms again, but to no avail. As the days passed, the closer Kat and Draco seemed to become. She was often found in his arms and Harry didn't like it at all. Many of the students found the pair to be a well-matched couple, dubbing them as Hogwarts royalty in a way, the Slytherin Prince and (naming her) the Gryffindor Princess.

The separation between the Potter twins was unnatural, unhealthy, and it pained them both greatly. Both wished for their spat to end, but both were far too bullheaded to do anything about it. Kat hadn't been sleeping well at all, her dreams were getting worse and the one person that she always confided in wouldn't even speak to her let alone acknowledge her existence. She didn't want to trouble Hermione, especially because she knew that her friend would try to get her to go to Dumbledore about the dreams, and right now that wasn't what she wanted to do. So she hid her exhaustion and troubles, from her brother, from her friends, from her boyfriend, from everyone and she hid them well.

In the library

Harry sat glaring at Kat and her _boyfriend_ as they sat a ways away in the library. He hated that Malfoy was all over her and what really made his skin crawl was that the blonde-haired snake was showing what seemed to be genuine affection towards her. The way he held her, the way he looked at her, the fact he was actually smiling, not sporting his usual smirk, the fact that the pair actually looked disgustingly adorable together really set him on edge. True, he wanted his sister to be happy, but not with the Slytherin Prince of all people. "Harry… HARRY!" He snapped from his irritated state to look at a clearly annoyed Hermione. "Honestly Harry, just let it go!" she scolded. "What? I don't like him, I'm not saying anything, so what's the problem?" he muttered. She rolled her eyes, "Just talk to her already, it's bothering her that you haven't even made an effort to." He scoffed, "Well maybe I'd talk to her if she stopped dating him." He nodded in the couple's direction giving a particularly disgusted look when Malfoy nuzzled into his sister's neck earning giggles as she playfully pushed him telling him to stop so she could read.

"Harry, you're acting like a child, stop it!" she snapped, "Her dreams have been getting worse, she won't go to Dumbledore, and she won't talk to me about them. She needs you and you're just ignoring her. Have you even noticed how tired she's been looking recently?" He was slightly taken aback by her words and took in his sister's appearance. He could see the look in her eyes, she was clearly exhausted and he couldn't help but feel the guilt wash over him like a bucket of ice water. "Fine," he muttered, before standing up abruptly and walking brusquely out of the library.

Later, in Gryffindor Tower

Kat sat in her usual spot on the couch in the Common Room her completed homework lay beside her as she stared into the slowly dying fire, its dull glow being the only light in the room with the exception of a few candles here and there. Everyone was down at dinner still so she had the room to herself. She needed a break from everyone and from Draco. She enjoyed spending time with him but he was a bit handsy and she needed some time to herself. She heard the portrait open and the familiar voice of her brother and best friends echo into the relatively silent room. She refused to turn around, especially when they became quiet and heard two pairs of feet make their way up the different staircases up to the dorms. Harry took a deep breath before walking slowly over to the couch, sitting down on the opposite end. There was a deafening silence before Harry spoke up, "I'm sorry." His words hung in the air as both stared off into the fire, the amber light from the fire reflecting in their identical emerald orbs.

"I forgive you," she replied after what seemed like ages, her gaze meeting his. "I hate fighting with you Harry," she said, her voice soft. He nodded before slowly hugging her. They held each other tightly afraid to let go. A week apart had been too much of a strain on their extremely close and powerful bond. "I'm so sorry I've been such a prat about everything," he apologized again. She gave a small smile as they released each other from their embrace, "It's fine." He sighed, running a hand through his messy hair, "And I'm sorry for not noticing how tired you've been looking Kat." She turned her gaze to the fire, "It's fine Harry, really." He looked at her with a small incredulous stare, "No, it's not okay Kat," he scoffed before catching his fairly harsh tone and moved closer to her. "I've been a horrible brother for not noticing this before. Tell me what you've been dreaming about Kat," he said softly, not wishing to work her up, concern evident in his voice.

She sighed as she turned her gaze back to her brother, "I've been dreaming about the bloody door, it's been driving me mental-" "Katherine," he cut in softly, "What else?" He knew she'd try to hide the truth, as always, he knew she'd try to pass it off as nothing. "He's getting stronger Harry," she muttered, "I can feel it." "I know," he replied somberly, "I can feel it too." She sighed shakily, "He keeps making me that offer…" He placed a soothing arm around her, "Has he been torturing you like the last time? Because I swear-" "No, he hasn't," she replied hastily, "There hasn't been any pain. None are like that one… they're almost like replays of it. They're nowhere near as realistic as that one was." His brow furrowed in concern, her dreams were often far worse than his and there was nothing he could do and he felt helpless.

"You still see the door Harry?" she asked. He nodded before looking down at his hands, "And I… sometimes I still see Cedric's death." The two fell silent, once more, his death still clear in their minds. Kat was still deeply affected by it, especially due to their relationship.

Flashback

_ Katherine was walking through the courtyard to get to Care for Magical Creatures when she heard someone shout after her. "Kat!" She turned to see Cedric Diggory running up to her. "Oh, hey Cedric," she greeted him warmly, earning one of his beautiful smiles. "Would you mind if I walked with you for a moment?" he asked politely. "Sure," she smiled as he joined her. They chatted happily as they crossed the bridge leading to the grounds. There were a few students here and there at the circle of stones that the bridge let out into. "Well, I guess I should head back up to the school," he said as they stopped by the stone closest to the direction of Hagrid's hut. "Yeah," she replied, "I should probably get to class." She was about to turn to leave when he spoke up, "Erm Kat, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Yule Ball with me? That is, if you're not going with anyone already." She was slightly caught off guard by his question but recovered with a smile, "I would love to go with you Cedric." _

_ George wasn't happy to say the least when he found out the two were going together. They had been apart for 3 months and he was far from letting her go and moving on. Kat ignored his constant and obvious looks and pouts and moved on._

_ Over the next few weeks, she and Cedric's relationship grew and he soon asked her to be his girlfriend, which she gladly accepted. They made an excellent pair as a couple and for the Yule Ball. She looked stunning in her floor-length, simple, yet elegant red dress that contrasted beautifully with her flawless pale skin. _

_She had become suspicious of Mad-Eye Moody when he was to place the Tri-Wizard cup in the maze, so she followed him in under the invisibility cloak/disillusionment charm. He turned her into a statue-like figure resting the trophy in her hands. The enchantment wore off when the boys grabbed the cup and the 3 were whisked to the graveyard. It was there that she witnessed the "rebirth" of Lord Voldemort and the death of Cedric Diggory. When they reappeared with Cedric's body, she was the first to notice her brother was missing as was the imposter Moody. She accompanied Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape, blowing the door off its hinges in anger and fear for his life. _

End Flashback

That night in the graveyard haunted her dreams every night since, serving as a constant reminder of what she and Harry were up against. "You seem happy with him Kat," Harry said quickly, changing the subject so as not to cause his sister any further mental anguish, "With Malfoy I mean." She nodded with a small smile, "Yeah, he's really sweet when he wants to be." She left out the other, more steamy details knowing Harry would probably explode if he knew, "He's promised to lay off insulting Hermione and Ron. Although, he'll probably keep it to a minimum… I'll make sure he does though, trust me." Harry couldn't help but smile at her, "I missed you." She hugged him again glad to finally speak to him. Their separation had affected them deeply. Both knew that they couldn't handle a division like that for quite some time. Both twins were more than happy to be in each other's company once more.


	11. Chapter 11

HP 11

Kat and Draco had been going strong for since the end of September. They were still the school's "it" couple, but the buzz had died down quite a bit, much to Kat's relief. The two seemed to be the ideal pair, always seeming to be adorable, and all over each other. It was very obvious that Malfoy was completely taken and enamored by her, following her around like an extremely cocky, yet adoring lost puppy. Their affection for each other was blatant and almost constant but like any other couple they had their fights. Actually, they fought frequently, almost as they had before the start of their relationship. There had been a few occasions where Kat had almost lost control during their arguments when he had particularly infuriated her about something, and there had been a few occasions where Kat would be close to tears after storming away from a rather nasty fight with him, finding solace in Hermione. Their smaller petty arguments would usually end in a heated make out session, which would often progress to more… scandalous results.

It seemed as if their arguments only fueled their relationship further. The sexual tension between the two of them was often overwhelming and rather obvious. It disturbed Harry, he still didn't like Malfoy, and he knew that despite the sweetness that he put forward and usually reserved for his sister could never outweigh the dominantly arrogant side of his personality. Kat, as much as she liked Draco, she knew that this, being a lust-filled, extremely physical relationship, was not going to last. It was very obvious that Draco cared far more for her than she did him, and of course, she felt guilty. She was quite possibly the only person to see his softer, more human side. He was affectionate towards her and she was by far the longest relationship that he'd ever had, well, besides is on and off stints with Pansy Parkinson. She had a feeling he wouldn't let her go easily if the time ever actually came for them to break up.

"Johnson has the quaffle, passes to Potter, POTTER SCORES! 10 points to Gryffindor!" Lee Jordan bounced with excitement as he added to the total score for his house. It was a Slytherin vs. Gryffindor match and Gryffindor was just winning. The Slytherin house jeers directed towards Ron had been working excellently to destroy his confidence, causing him to miss a lot of the goals that he could have possibly saved. His housemates and teammates shouted words of confidence to him when they could. It had been a brutal game and neither Harry nor Draco had seen the snitch as of yet. Kat and the other chasers had worked hard to keep the quaffle in their possession. The twins had been hitting the bludgers as needed in the defense of their teammates as were the Slytherin beaters. Alicia and Katie had dodged them on several occasions. Crabbe and Goyle managed to steer clear of knocking any at Kat, for fear of what Draco would do if she had been hurt.

Noticing this, she used this knowledge to her advantage, managing to weave her way to the goal posts without much interference and lobbing the quaffle into the hoops. Slytherin had possession of the quaffle and were flying it down the pitch evading the members of the Gryffindor team. The chasers zoomed back towards their end of the pitch in an attempt to stop them. Angelina caught up with the Slytherin chaser in possession of the quaffle and rammed into their side. It was around this time that Harry first caught sight of the snitch that was flying quickly around the tallest Slytherin hoop. Without a second thought, he urged his broom forward, zooming towards the little golden ball. Malfoy took a moment to catch on to Harry's movements but was soon in hot pursuit, craving victory. The Slytherin chaser passed off to one of her teammates who caught it and flew quickly towards the Gryffindor hoops. Ron swallowed nervously as he watch them make their way towards him. As the chaser lobbed the quaffle at the side hoop, Kat came out of nowhere snagging the ball in mid air and hurtled up over the awestruck Slytherin. He quickly recovered, frantically attempting to catch up to her as she bolted back to the other side of the quidditch pitch. The very loud rumble that had emanated from the Gryffindor section of the stadium and the other houses that supported them for the game when Harry had caught sight of the snitch, quickly erupted into a loud cheer as Kat wove her way to the Slytherin hoops.

Lee Jordan was shouting excitedly into the megaphone and Professor McGonagall didn't even bother to stop him due to her own growing excitement. Dumbledore smiled as he peered at the Potter twins' excellent display of skill from over his half-moon glasses. Two of the Slytherin chasers flew to Kat's sides in an attempt to sandwich her and win the quaffle as Harry and Malfoy zoomed over the stands in pursuit of the snitch. Kat allowed them to get close enough, before bringing her feet up onto her broom. She crouched, the quaffle still in her grasp as her broom continued forward, waiting for the right moment. When the chasers were about a foot from her on each side, she sprung from her broom, managing to propel herself into the air lobbing the quaffle into the center hoop, sending her broom forward and the two Slytherins crashing into each other. She landed on her broom as the ball soared through the hoop just out of the Slytherin keeper's reach, earning an enormous cheer from the crowd. "And Kat Potter with the goal of the year!" Lee shouted, nearly bouncing out of his seat with excitement, "Another ten points to Gryffindor!" Within seconds of his announcement, Harry caught the snitch after one of the typical risky ("Potter") dives that the twins had perfected. "Harry Potter's caught the snitch! 150 points to Gryffindor for the win!" The crowd exploded in an overwhelming cheer of excitement as the Slytherin section and supporters voiced their disapproval.

The teams all made their way down to the grass, to make their ways to their prospective locker rooms. "Oi, Weasley," Malfoy shouted to George, and then everything went completely out of control. Insults flew back and forth between Draco and George specifically focused on the Weasley family. Of course Harry had to step in to try and get George away from the impending potential fight that was looming over their heads. Then Draco, being the pompous git that he was, decided to insult the Potter twins' parents. To say that Kat was livid would be a complete understatement. Both Harry and Fred, who had managed to restrain George up until now, failed to hold him any longer, allowing him to punch Malfoy in the face. Harry followed suit, until Kat stepped in. "Enough!" she shouted, managing to push the boys apart. "Harry, George, go stand over there, just walk away and calm down!" she seethed at them, annoyed that they let Malfoy's insults get to them. They opened their mouths to protest but chose otherwise when they saw the look on her face. She was beyond furious and they knew it was in their best interests to stay clear.

"And you!" she shouted, rounding on her boyfriend, "What in the bloody hell is your problem?" If the scuffle hadn't drawn the attention of the spectators and the staff before, then the fight between the Slytherin Prince and Gryffindor Princess most certainly had. "You can't just lose a match in a sportsman like manner, can you? No, it's physically impossible! You have to go and egg on my friends and my brother and insult their families. You do realize, Draco, that when you insult my brother's parents, you are insulting me as well, or do you forget that they're my parents too? Huh?" He looked dumbly at his girlfriend, unsure of what to say. "It's over Draco, we're through!" It was at this time in particular that Umbridge interfered and had ordered the five of them to her office immediately.


	12. Chapter 12

HP 12

Several days had passed since the quidditch match and news that a girl had dumped the Slytherin Prince for the first time ever had spread like wildfire. Needless to say, Malfoy was not pleased. His ego had been damaged and the old animosity between he and the Potter twins came back as strong as ever. It pained him to have lost Kat because of a stupid mistake, but he, to help repair his wounded ego, passed it off as nothing. He pretended that she was just another conquest, proceeding to have his way with several other random girls to emphasize his point. Kat was absolutely furious with him. He had insulted the Weasleys, who were of course like family, and he had insulted both her brother and her parents. He had gone too far and she had had it.

She was lucky to have been spared from Umbridge's immediate wrath unlike her unfortunate brother and the Weasley twins who had been banned from playing quidditch at Hogwarts for their "abhorred" behaviour while her ex was babied and received no form of punishment whatsoever.

Tensions between Gryffindor and Slytherin were at an all time high, simply fueled and rallied by the wronged parties. Kat threw herself into her studies and restrained herself from any relations with boys. Harry, although more than happy that she had dumped Malfoy especially after the match, was being supportive of his sister in her rather delicate situation/state. Ron and Hermione were of course there for her too, perhaps Hermione a little more so than Ron seeing as the two girls were closer to each other anyway.

Kat and Neville had begun to hang out an awful lot more often too. Their constantly solid friendship growing even stronger as the weeks progressed. He had been there to console her throughout her rocky relationship with Malfoy, as he had been for her previous relationships, and was there for her after they had split. He had always been her constant, the one thing that never changed since their first meeting in St. Mungo's. She didn't know what she would do without him.

Neville was happy to be there for her, he always was. He hated seeing her in such an unhappy state. He cared for her deeply, he always had, but in the last few years, he had begun to care for her in a completely different way. He was frightened by these new feelings at first, but the fear soon dissipated as they got older. She got prettier with age and his small crush that he had begun to harbour in his third year had grown past just attraction into something more. He was just too afraid to do something about it, for fear of ruining their friendship.

"Miss Potter, please read the introduction to Chapter 12," asked Professor Umbridge in her characteristic sickly sweet voice. Since the incident at the quidditch match, she had relentlessly sought every possible opportunity to make Kat's life miserable, despite the fact that she had done nothing wrong. The girl had managed to narrowly escape being banned from quidditch but that did not mean that she could escape punishment for the wrong that she committed in the demented toad-woman's eyes. Her crime, being who she was and for whom her brother was. The young, raven-haired witch sat with her textbook closed in front of her, a defiant expression lightly etched on her fair features and a dangerous glint flickered across her agitated gaze as she responded. "I've already read it Professor."

A mildly disturbing fake smile formed on the ministry official's mouth, "Oh, I highly doubt that," Umbridge replied, the stupid confident grin never leaving her lips, "Please summarize the introduction. " She was sure that she had gotten the girl, thinking that she was lying through her teeth. "Chapter 12: On disarming spells," Kat began, her voice calm and even, "Disarming spells are the easiest way to get out of a fight or prevent other potential attacks from happening. It is meant to disarm the opponent and avoid harm. It is a clean way to evade attack and to gain the upper hand in battle/a fight. The most commonly known and used disarming spell is expelliarmus…" As Kat continued to rattle off a fairly perfect summary of the chapter, her voice began to gain more confidence, earning smiles from her classmates. Even Malfoy gave a small, amused smirk before it quickly disappeared from his lips.

"In all honesty professor, I think it's a load of rubbish," she added once she finished. The smile on Umbridge's face faltered, "How can it be rubbish Miss Potter, when it teaches you a safe way to defend yourself and avoids actually putting you at risk." Kat scoffed, "How can we even learn anything, if we're just reading about defending ourselves? Don't we need to practice these spells so we can actually learn how to use and execute them properly?" Kat replied, her temper beginning to flair. At this point, the entire class had abandoned their readings and focused their attention upon them; all dead silent as they watched the two go at it.

"This is a Ministry approved class!" the toad exclaimed shrilly. "I don't bloody care who approved it! We're not going to be able to protect and defend ourselves in the real world with this twaddle 'professor'!" Kat fired back, raising her voice, uttering the last word with distaste. Any courtesy that had been in her voice to begin with (which was very little, if any at all) had disappeared completely. "What on earth would you have to defend yourself from? We are safe!" Umbridge fumed, her voice rising in pitch and in volume. "Safe? Safe?" Kat shouted incredulously, "Voldemort's back, gaining power and followers, and you really think we're safe!"

"He. Is. Not. Back!" Umbridge spat through gritted teeth. "Yes, he is! I was there last year, I saw him in the bloody graveyard. I saw him kill Cedric Diggory and fight my brother. He used the bloody cruciatus curse on me! Do you know what that feels like 'Professor?' Do you? I don't think you do! I'll tell you how it feels. It feels like your insides are being pulled apart and shredded up with excruciating pain everywhere. So don't you **dare** tell me he's not back!" Kat seethed, breathing heavily as her outburst came to an end.

The class was in shock. Kat had never acted so disrespectfully towards a teacher before, nor had she ever spoken about that night in the graveyard, the night Cedric Diggory died. No one moved or spoke, all eyes focused on Kat who had risen from her seat during her outburst. Umbridge was taken aback, blinking stupidly before somewhat composing herself, "Detention, Miss Potter!" Her voice was still shrill in her obvious discomfort and irritation. "This book and the Ministry's need to interfere in the teaching methods of this school are complete and utter garbage Professor," Kat fumed, just managing to keep her temper under control, nothing was shaking or threatening to fly across the room or break. "Detention Potter! To the Headmaster's office at once!" the flustered toad-woman shouted, her voice reaching a whole new octave. "That' fine with me," Kat replied coldly, harshly slinging her school bag over her shoulder and grabbing her books from her desk, "This joke of a class is a waste of time anyway." With that, she stormed out of the classroom, the door slamming shut behind her, leaving her classmates, friends, and her brother in awe.


	13. Chapter 13

HP 13

A cold breeze blew across the grounds, sending a shiver down Kat's spine. She sat, huddled beneath a tree by the lake where she often wandered to for peace. It was a bit far off from the usual well-trodden path and fairly secluded and always quiet. It was only a few feet from the black lake's shoreline. The only sounds that could be heard were the soft lapping of the water against the bank and the soft sound of the wind causing the leaves and the surrounding vegetation to rustle gently. She drew her cloak tighter, bringing her knees closer to her chest as she leaned her back against the rigid yet comfortable trunk as she stared out over the lake. Her gaze was distant while her thoughts and emotions were churning about inside of her mind.

She had gone to Dumbledore's office as she had been told, her anger still boiling within her from her confrontation with Umbridge.

Flashback

It took every bit of her will power to keep her ability from revealing itself. She was absolutely infuriated as she barreled down the corridors, making her way to the familiar griffin statue that guards the headmaster's office. She mumbled the password, barely waiting for the griffin to spring out of the way and for the stairs to begin to move. "Come in," came the headmaster's voice as she pushed open the door, only slowing herself in the slightest bit as she entered.

"I hear that you've rattled dear Professor Umbridge's cage," he said, looking at her over his half-moon spectacles with a twinkle of amusement in his vibrant blue eyes. He was seated at his desk, his hands folded neatly in front of him. Fawkes was perched in his usual place, eyeing her with expectantly as she approached. Usually when she was in Dumbledore's office, she would give him a quick stroke or a quick scratch on the neck. Today, however, she was too angry to even think of showing her usual display of affection.

Kat was too infuriated to reply or even smile in return, somehow managing to maintain her control. It was almost as if Dumbledore could sense or feel the strain of her attempts to keep control over her telekinesis. His soft smile dropped into a serious expression, "You need to be careful Katherine. One lapse in concentration and you could lose control." She was absolutely fuming, "I need to be careful? **I** need to be careful? She's the one who needs to be careful, blabbing on about the 'safe, ministry approved way' of learning magic. Not to mention the fact that she uses every possible opportunity to make my life a living hell!"

It took a lot to get her this worked up and he was letting her vent out her frustrations and anger in a safe place. She knew that her headmaster was genuinely concerned for her, but she was too angry to rationalize. Dumbledore knew that there was far more to her power than she understood. She was already a remarkably gifted and talented witch at her young age, but there was a deeper, stronger power that would grow with age that remained fairly hidden, the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. There was more to her dreams, the potential of a greater, unknown psychic ability was overwhelming and Dumbledore knew that if Voldemort were to get his hands on her it could be disastrous.

"Katherine, you know full well what could happen if you were to lose control. It's too dangerous for it to be out in the open. Any little slip up can put you in grave danger and I know that you are fully aware of that," he stated in his calm, warm voice. The stern edge was enough to push his point through her angered haze. "I haven't lost control yet, have I?" she fired back, clearly fighting a losing war, although her temper began to flair once more. "No, you haven't, which is very good. However, the risk is too great for you to be on the edge." Kat sighed in frustration, running a hand through her silky hair as she began to calm down. "There is only so much that the Order can do to protect you. I know that it's hard to hide such a big part of you from the rest of the world, but you must, for your own safety," Dumbledore continued, looking at the raven-haired girl in front of him over his half-moon glasses. She nodded in defeat, her senses and characteristic rationality returning to her as she began to cool down, "Yes, sir."

"Good, now, how are your lessons with Professor Snape going?" he asked, adopting a slightly lighter tone. "Fine, sir," she replied in a relatively calm voice. "Excellent. He tells me that you're learning quickly. He's impressed with your progress. I have asked him to also work on helping you control and better develop your gift." Kat looked at him with a furrowed brow, "Sorry, sir, but I thought you were teaching me to control my powers?" A distant look crossed over his ancient features, "He is to be your instructor now." He left it at that and Kat decided not to pry.

After several more moments of discussion, she left the headmaster's office confused and somewhat flustered state.

End Flashback

Kat was still puzzled by Dumbledore's somewhat erratic behaviour. His moods had been all over the place and he had become so distant, it was just…odd. He was acting the same way towards her brother as well. Something was most definitely off and it was really beginning to bother her. She was brought from her reverie when she heard faint, muffled footsteps walk towards her and sit close beside her. She turned her head to find Neville by her side. "Hey Nev," she said softly. "Hey," he replied, allowing the silence that he had disrupted to return. Her gaze returned to the lake as his went from her face then followed out to where hers ended. He knew her better than to bother her when she was thinking, judging by the relatively distant look in her eyes. Her usually vibrant, green eyes were somewhat dull, the lack of sleep and recent stresses clearly taking their toll on her.

They sat there like that for a while before Neville broke the quiet once more, "How are you doing?" he asked with genuine concern. He was worried about her and she was grateful for his kindness. "I'll live," she sighed. "Alright, good," he paused unsure of whether to continue or not, "I was just worried you know, I mean, I've never seen you blow up at a teacher like that, and, well, you had every right to. But I just wanted to check in and make sure everything was okay. I mean, you know I believe you and Harry and you know that I will always be there for support and… well, yeah." Kat couldn't help but smile as he finished rambling, turning her gaze to meet his, "I know you will Nev. It really means a lot."

"You mean a lot to me," he murmured, slapping a hand over his mouth, absolutely mortified by the words that had escaped his lips. Kat cocked her head to the side, "What did you say Neville?" He was now avoiding looking in her direction all together, a blush flooding into his cheeks, his eyes darting around in panic, eventually settling on his hands. He was trying so hard to say something else, but the words kept coming up, like uncontrollable word vomit, "I-I…I said th-that you m-mean a lot to me."

She couldn't find the words to speak, slightly shocked by her friend's sudden burst of courage. Of course she wasn't nearly as surprised as Neville was of his own spontaneous boldness, but he continued, the words pouring from his mouth without any form of a filter, "Look, I really like you Kat. You're my best mate and I've known you for years. I know you better than anyone else… well except for you're brother and Ron and Hermione and, yeah. I've always had a small crush on you but in third year we started to get older and I, well I started to really fancy you. But you were dating George and you seemed really happy and I was happy for you but there was always this looming feeling of jealousy and, well to be perfectly honest, I see you as way out of my league."

"Then last year you and George broke up and then you started going out with Cedric, and I knew that there was no way in hell that I could ever hope to compete with him. You know, at the Yule Ball, I couldn't take my eyes off of you. You were just so gorgeous and you two looked perfect and I wished to Merlin that I could just be him." Kat still couldn't find her voice as his words continued to pour from his mouth, his eyes never leaving his hands, "Then Malfoy came into the picture and can I say that I hated seeing you with him? I mean, I could understand why most of the school thought you two were perfect for each other, but… you never even went on a real date together, it was just, well, a physical kind of thing… and I… I just… I just want to take you out on a proper date Kat. You deserve at least that, even if it is just as friends. And I completely understand if you don't want to, but… will you go out with me?" he said, his gaze darting to hers.

He panted slightly from his long-winded speech, in total disbelief of what he had just said, ready for the eminent rejection that she would give. A small smile had found its way onto her striking features, her green eyes looking the most vibrant they had in weeks, "Yes, I'd love to go on a date with you Neville." His face lit up and his eyes glistened happily, "Really?" She couldn't help but chuckle a little at his excitement. He was like a little boy in a candy shop, his happiness far outweighing his shock. "Yes, really," she smiled. "Brilliant," he stated, absolutely thrilled. The two sat in silence for a while longer, Kat leaning her head on his shoulder, as she had often done when he was there to comfort her in the past. As they sat there, Neville was still continuing to process everything that had just happened a small, shocked smile forming on his features as the two stared out at the fairly smooth surface of the black lake in front of them.


	14. Chapter 14

Neville and Kat had begun to spend a lot more time together as the days passed by and the next trip to Hogsmeade drifted closer. So as not to draw attention to themselves, they decided to keep everything on the down low for fear of students, such as Draco, who would give them (namely Neville) a hard time. Kat had been completely taken by surprise when her friend had admitted his feelings for her, but something inside of her felt so good upon hearing all of those words that had spurted from his lips. Perhaps it was because he made her feel appreciated in a way that far surpassed Draco's way of showing affection. Neville was genuine in his words and feelings and wasn't afraid to express emotion, unlike Draco, who was often cold, emotionless, hard to read, and, of course, extremely egotistical.

She couldn't help but notice how much Neville had changed and grown over the years that she had known him. He had become very handsome, growing out of his awkward stage, losing the chubbiness of his youth and gaining a taller, leaner build, his face maturing to a more masculine and angular appeal, further drawing her to him. There was a confident, brave young man under the nervous and uncertain exterior and Kat could see him beginning to peak out from the confines of his psyche.

She had earned two weeks detention with Umbridge for her "insolence" and the only thing that was managing to bring her through the strenuous torture sessions was thoughts of her upcoming date with Neville. She and Harry were serving detention together for the first week as his punishment for standing up for her after she had stormed out of the classroom. Their hands were tender from the brutal use of the quills, however the lines drawn from their blood were not the same. Harry was forced to write, "I must not defend a liar," while Kat was forced to write, "I must not tell lies insulting the Ministry." It was over these two weeks that Kat, Harry, Ron, and Hermione decided that it was time to do something. That it was high time to act out against the newly appointed Hogwarts High Inquisitor and her ridiculous teaching methods.

* * *

"Alright, so what time do you want to meet back up again?" Kat asked her brother as she and the golden trio made their way down to the entrance courtyard. "Around three o'clock," he replied, giving his sister a small smile as they neared the main double doors to the school. "Good," she responded as she spotted Neville standing by the fountain, giving him a small wave and a warm smile, "I'll see you lot later." She walked off to meet him, giving him a small hug, their interactions slightly awkward yet genuine and adorable.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione couldn't help but grin at the sweet pair who was now walking towards Hogsmeade. She had told them about her encounter/experience with Neville at the Black Lake seeing as she had returned to the Gryffindor Common Room in brighter spirits in comparison to her angered mood in which she had hastily left their defense against the dark arts class earlier that day.

The pair made their way through the streets of Hogsmeade, chatting about this and that, the awkward tension between the two receding rapidly. They meandered away from the crowds after spending a good amount of time making the rounds of the usual shops. Neville had insisted on buying the sweets Kat had intended to purchase at Honeydukes for her, despite her initial resistance. They avoided The Three Broomsticks for fear of drawing unwanted attention to themselves, instead, choosing to walk around and peruse the shops that peaked their interest. They found solace and quiet in the little bookshop by the Hogshead and browsed the many shelves packed with books of all different types.

At one point Neville suggested the jewelry shop that was located next to Madame Malkin's. The two looked over the window display to see if anything really stood out. As they looked and commented on the lovely jewelry that occupied the space, when a particular piece caught Kat's eye. It was a necklace with a simple, silver chain that blossomed into an intricate, vine-like design that wove around a circular, deep/dark red stone. The vine detail started thin from the chain on both sides and gradually increased to about a centimeter wide as it circled the stone. Neville noticed her reaction to the piece, taking a mental note to ask the shopkeeper about it at another time.

After wandering around the little village for a short while longer, they decided to go to the look out point by the Shrieking Shack to have some time alone and away from their schoolmates. The two stood at the fence overlooking the old building in silence. Their coats were drawn tightly around them as the cold, late November air hung around them. Neville looked down to Kat's hand, his nerves beginning to hit him full force as he began to ponder holding it. She, however, didn't seem to notice as she continued to study the outside of the structure in which she had reunited with her godfather only two years before.

She had only met him twice before, under Dumbledore's supervision. Her visits had not been documented, but they were they only things that truly kept the poor man sane. Those and her occasional, secret letters that she sent via owl telling him all about her life at Hogwarts. Little did she know, that he had kept them and managed to smuggle them out with him when he had escaped from Azkaban. The night that Harry first met him in the Shrieking Shack was an especially hard night for the Potter twins, especially since Kat was not on Harry's side, instead siding with the accused mass murderer who supposedly wanted them dead. She smiled softly as she remembered Sirius' offer to have the two of them move in with him after his name was cleared.

She was brought from her memories by the feeling of a hand closing around hers. She looked down then up at Neville with a smile, a blush creeping onto her pale cheeks. The two stood wordlessly as they continued to look at the shack, her hand enclosed in his. Neville had clearly won the mental war that raged in his head and gained the courage to make a step in the right direction.

They soon realized that time had managed to escape them and that they had to head back to the village, to meet up with the golden trio in the Hogshead Inn. The pair walked back, hand-in-hand. Both disappointed that their date had come to an end, seeing as they had both enjoyed the time spent with each other.

* * *

"Look, the real world, it's not… Facing this stuff in real life is not like school. In school, if you make a mistake you can just try again tomorrow, but out there, when you're a second away from being murdered or watching a friend die right before your eyes... you don't know what that's like," he said in an attempt to convince the others of the gravity of the situation, that this wasn't easy, that they would be risking more than just a bad grade if they were to make a mistake.

"That's why we want you to teach us. Who better than you? You've had real experience and we're clearly not learning anything with Umbridge," countered Hermione, "We need someone who's had first hand encounters with dark magic and dueling and actually using defensive spells." The rest of the large group that had gathered secretly in the Hogshead Inn murmured unanimously in agreement. Harry looked a bit unsure as he scanned the faces of his friends and classmates who now surrounded him and were looking at him expectantly, hope clear in their eyes.

"Alright," he said, trying to put on a confident façade, "But Kat should help teach too. She's had the same amount of experience as I have and I reckon she knows a bit more than I do." Her gaze darted to meet his as she was slightly caught off guard before she too scanned the faces of her hopeful classmates who were chattering in agreement, who better than the Potter twins to teach them the things that they were never going to learn so long as the "Hogwarts High Inquisitor" was their professor. Kat glanced at Neville who gave her a reassuring look before she quickly shifted her gaze to her brother who was looking at her with both a reassuring and expectant stare. "Alright," she replied, mimicking Harry's response.

The group seemed to let out a breath of relief and excitement soon took its place in the overall energy that they generated. Hermione had produced a piece of parchment, having them all sign their names and thereby initiating them into Dumbledore's Army. She made it very clear that no one was to talk about this meeting once they left the Hogshead and that they would try to figure out a meeting place as soon as they possibly could and establish a meeting time.

Everyone began to filter out with the exception of the Potter twins, Ron, and Hermione. As the others were clearing out, Neville told Kat that he would meet her outside before following the group's lead and going out in controlled, inconspicuous spurts. "That was more people than I expected," Hermione piped up, the others nodding in agreement. The four of them were surprised by the amount of people who had come and expressed interest in learning real defense against the dark arts. Harry and Kat were no longer put off by their sudden election to teachers and leaders of the "club" and instead were excited for the events to come. The question of where to meet and how to communicate exclusively with the group would be addressed at another time.

The four of them waited a bit before deciding it to be safe to leave without drawing suspicion. They walked out of the old, dingy pub and into the crisp outdoor air. Neville was sitting on a bench nearby staring at his hands. As Kat and the golden trio approached him, his gaze darted up to see them, his face lighting up when his eyes landed on Kat. He quickly rose from the bench when he made eye contact with her, greeting all of them as they stopped in front of him. He seemed a bit wary of Harry, acting slightly more nervous around him than he usually did.

"H-hi guys. Ready," he cleared his throat, "ready to head back up to school?" Kat smiled reassuringly at her date as Harry and the others agreed, the five of them beginning to walk towards the castle. The new couple walked side by side, their fingertips brushing and stealing glances at one another. The golden trio was a few feet ahead of them, giving them space until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, the three of them heading in, while Kat and Neville lingered behind.

"I had a really good time today Nev," she smiled. "So did I," he replied, scratching the back of his head nervously. There was a moment of awkward silence between the two as he attempted to say something a few times before it finally came out, "Kat, I was wondering… well, I was wondering, if you wouldn't mind, erm, if you would go out with me again some time?" He looked nervously at the pretty girl who stood before him, half expecting her to politely decline. "I would love to Neville," she answered sweetly, not bothering to even attempt to mask any form of the happiness that clearly displayed itself in her voice, as if the growing grin on her lips wasn't already a dead giveaway.

"Oh, brilliant!" he exclaimed in surprise, his developing grin mirroring hers. She nodded contentedly before the two embraced in what, to the untrained eye, would seem to be a friendly hug. "Thank you for a fantastic date Neville, it's the best I've ever had really," she whispered in his ear before pulling away, giving him a peck on the cheek as she did. She quickly muttered the password to the Fat Lady and entered the Gryffindor common room to face the bombardment of questions that Hermione and the others were sure to unleash on her, leaving behind a somewhat dazed Neville with a relatively confused yet contented smile plastered on his face.


	15. Chapter 15

HP 15

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Kat and Neville's relationship had progressed by quite a bit over the next month. They had gone on several little dates (when they weren't busy with classes, schoolwork, DA meetings, quidditch, and what not) and had been spending an increasing amount of time together. Their relationship was moving at a comfortably slow pace, not at the breakneck, extremely high sexual tension-filled speed that she had experienced with Draco. Neville's was a sweet and tender courtship, one that Kat enjoyed and found to be a pleasant distraction from the increasingly graphic dreams that tormented her at night and the issues and thoughts that plagued her mind every day. He hadn't so much as kissed her yet, and for some reason, she liked it. They cuddled together when they had rare moments alone, moments that they both adored.

Neville would often hold her hand or place a hand on her knee under the table when they sat next to each other at dinner. Needless to say that the small little things that he would do made her fall for him very quickly.

There was a soft breeze passing through the astronomy tower, rippling softly through Kat's raven hair as she and Neville leaned against the railing staring out at the landscape cascading out in front of them. "Hey, Kat, can I talk to you about something?" Neville asked, nerves trickling subtly into his voice. "What's up Nev?" she said turning to face him, her arm resting on the railing she was leaning against. He paused for a moment, looking only slightly unsure of himself before taking a deep breath and almost giving a nervous laugh on the exhale. She smiled back at him reassuringly, giving a small chuckle finding his nervousness to be utterly adorable.

''I, uh, I really like you Kat and …well… you're amazing and brilliant and I- I really enjoy all of the time we've been spending together. I hope that you've been having a good time on our little dates and…and…" he sighed trying to maintain his relatively decent somewhat strong composure, "I'm sorry, I'm rubbish at this." Kat smiled, "It's fine Nev." He took another deep breath, "I dunno what it is about you Katherine, but you make me so nervous but I always feel so confident around you. Blimey, that doesn't even make any sense. I know you can handle yourself but I feel like… I feel like I need to protect you, to care for you and it's just… Merlin, I'm rambling on like a total idiot, and, bugger it! Kat, will you be my girlfriend?"

Kat didn't even need to stop to think for one second about her answer, "Of course I will Nev." She couldn't help but smile when she saw the relatively goofy grin form on his lips. The two of them had not realized how close they had gotten, until that moment and the smiles slowly faded from their faces. Neville had begun to lean in, pausing briefly centimeters from her lips, as if to check his boundaries. Kat's gaze flickered from his warm eyes to his inviting lips as she moved in slightly giving him permission to lean the rest of the way in and close the gap. She was in heaven as his soft lips pressed gently to hers in a tender first kiss.

The feeling of this kiss, this particular kiss, far surpassed the feeling of any that she had shared with any of her exes. For lack of a better and less stereotypical description of the feeling, it was like sparks had gone off within her, an electricity that permeated throughout her body. When they pulled away, both were blushing with soft, shy smiles. Wordlessly, their lips met again, moving harmoniously as she placed her right hand on cheek and his left hand found its way to her waist. They pulled apart slowly, panting slightly, their faces still close as he pressed his forehead to hers. The clock tower chimed loudly, bringing them from their happy daze. "I guess we should probably head back," Neville murmured, his disappointment mirroring Kat's, as they slowly separated, neither wanting the evening to end. "Yeah, I suppose we should."

He gently took her hand as they began to make their way from the tower, chatting occasionally on the way back to Gryffindor tower. The corridors were fairly empty as the time for curfew drew near. After entering the Gryffindor Common Room, the two said goodnight giving each other a tight hug and a soft kiss before heading up the opposite stair cases to their dormitories.

When Kat had arrived back at her room the previous night, Hermione had interrogated her about her date with Neville. She had become so increasingly excited as the raven-haired girl discussed his asking her to be his girlfriend and their first kiss. Hermione placed her hand on Kat's arm to express her congratulations when she felt a strange pull on her mind. She found it odd but pushed it aside, seeing it as nothing of concern or importance. The two girls chatted happily until they began to doze off. Kat, however, could not bring herself to fall asleep. She too had felt the pull in her mind, but she couldn't help but wonder if it was in fact her mind that she had felt the pull on. She shook her head, thinking that she'd discuss it with Snape during their next lesson in the coming evening, instead allowing her mind to drift to the now feared realm of her dreams. The dreams that tortured her at night and caused her to wake up in cold sweats at ungodly hours shaking in fear. She hoped, full heartedly that tonight would be an exception.

The next morning Kat and Hermione met up with Harry and Ron in the common room to walk down to the great hall for breakfast. The four had charms first and they were happy to have Flitwick as opposed to Snape or Umbridge as the starting professor of the day. They all sat in their usual places at the fairly empty Gryffindor table, discussing the next potential meeting time for the DA. Hermione was giving Kat nudging looks to tell Harry about her recent progression in her relationship. "Kat has something to tell you," Hermione started, giving an innocent smile, earning an eye roll and a small smile from her friend. "What's up?" asked Ron, with his mouth partially full, causing Hermione to sigh in distaste for his barely improving bad habits.

Harry looked from Ron to his sister with an amused smile. "Well, you know how Neville and I have been going out. Well, last night we were in the Astronomy Tower after the DA meeting and, well he asked me to be his girlfriend," she replied rather shyly, a small blush creeping onto her cheeks. "That's brilliant Kat," Harry exclaimed. "Yeah," echoed Ron with enthusiasm, "Well, what did you say?" "I said yes, of course! Blimey Ron, did you really think I'd say no?" Kat exclaimed quietly, not wanting to attract attention just yet, she wanted to keep Draco in the dark for as long as possible, the last thing she needed at the current time was for him to harass both Kat and more importantly Neville about their relationship. She really didn't want to put Neville through that unnecessary stress when they had so many more important things to worry about. Harry and Ron congratulated her, both smiling. Harry gave his sister's hand a light squeeze from over the table, his green eyes telling her everything.

He was genuinely glad for his sister. He knew that Neville, however clumsy and shy he was, would do anything to protect her and keep her happy. He had proven it to him through his extremely close friendship with Kat throughout their entire experience at Hogwarts thus far. Yes, Harry was indeed in protective brother mode, but he knew deep down that Neville would never hurt her in any way possible. It was also a plus because he had not seen Kat this happy in years. Fred and Malfoy didn't even come close to making her feel like Neville did and for that he was thankful.

As his hand lay on hers, he felt a tug on his mind, an odd feeling that he only sometimes experience in his dreams. Suddenly there were small flashes of pictures, from his past, ending with a flash of a picture of his sister and Neville. He felt her pull her hand out from under his, a small look of fear clear on her face. He looked at her curiously as she suddenly stood from her seat, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "I'm sorry," she muttered, her eyes downcast as a shameful look spread over her pretty features as she quickly turned and left the great hall, leaving a confused and somewhat worried golden trio behind.

She ran a hand through her hair as she walked out and into the entrance hall; she began to make her way to the charms classroom. Her mind was abuzz with this strange feeling that she had gotten from the minds of Harry and Hermione. She was becoming afraid of her own mind and what it's potential was. This wasn't a coincidence and she knew that she was going to have to talk to Snape about this during their occlumancy lesson that evening. She had seen pictures this time, flashing in her mind, they weren't hers and it scared her.

"Oi, Katherine," called the Slytherin Prince who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and was, at present, leaning lazily against the wall in front of her, tearing her from the fearful thoughts that occupied her mind. "What do you want, Malfoy," she sighed, frustration obvious in her voice. "Oh, on last name basis again are we love? Pity, we were doing so well, you know, with our relationship and all," he said, pushing himself off from the wall, beginning to slowly stalk towards her, eerily reminding her of how they had first gotten together in the first place. She took a step back, rolling her eyes in irritation, "You lost the first name privilege when you insulted my brother and my friends after that bloody quidditch match." His arrogant expression dimmed and became mixed with what seemed to be a somewhat regretful look, but only for a second before disappearing.

"So," he began, recovering from her blunt jab at his ego, "I hear you're with someone new. Care to tell me who?" She sighed, "What's it to you?" She had a feeling that he knew more than he was letting on, which was, in fact, true. He had suspected the possible identity of Kat's new boy. He just wanted to be sure of who his competition was. "Oh, I'm just interested as to who is filling my shoes. As your ex, I have that right. You at least owe me that," he sighed dramatically. "I owe you nothing Malfoy," she hissed, starting to walk away again. "Alright, alright, you owe me nothing," he said, catching up with her and managing to maneuver himself back in front of her, "I just want to know. I'm curious, that's all." Kat sighed in frustration, finding that he blocked her way no matter where she stepped, "Just leave me alone Draco, I need to get to class." "No you don't, you still have plenty of time," he countered, "Are you forgetting that we're in the same class Katherine." He gave her a sly smile, the same one that used to lead to their physical escapades. "I saw you with someone last night, I didn't see their face, but I know they're from your house," he stated quietly, "Who is it?" She sighed in exasperation, "Fine. It's Neville."

"Longbottom, really Kat?" Malfoy scoffed, "Of all the people you could use to get back at me with, you use him? I didn't think you could stoop that low. It's pathetic, really." Kat froze, slowly turning to face him, wanting nothing more than to slap the condescending smirk from his admittedly handsome face. "Excuse me?" He could tell she was fuming which was exactly what he wanted. "I am not using Neville as a rebound if that's what you're implying," she said rather calmly, her eyes telling another story as they glinted with anger. She was fighting hard to keep control of her powers, knowing very well of what the consequences would be. "Oh come on Kat, it's been a few weeks since we split up. You can't honestly be telling me that you've moved on already," he drawled in a know-it-all fashion, the cocky smirk only faltering for a moment.

"Actually, yes, I am Malfoy," she replied, "And it's been over 2 months since we split, which means I'm past any form of rebound. I really like Neville. He's sweet, loyal, kind, and he actually cares about people other than himself." The cocky smirk was wiped from his face, "Look, I just want to make sure that you're satisfied Katherine, I know how much of a handful you can be in bed," he said softly, stroking her cheek, "I just want to know that he's up to par." She pulled away from his touch as if he had shocked her, "For your information Malfoy, we haven't done anything yet. Want to know why? Because our relationship doesn't revolve around constant need for physical relations, it's sweet and tender, something that I want. Something that you couldn't give." He was at a loss for words, "Now if you don't mind, I have to get to class." With that she walked away, leaving him standing there dumbfounded.


	16. Chapter 16

The chatter died down as the members of Dumbledore's Army noticed Kat come forward turning to face all of them. "Alright," she started, "Tonight, you are going to learn the jinx, incarcerus. This jinx will come in handy for immobilizing the enemy in the instance that you are losing the upper hand in a duel or for ambushing them. The spell itself unleashes a set of ropes that instantly wrap themselves around your opponent, binding them until either they or a partner can deliver the counter curse." The group of students ranging from all different houses seemed to be hanging on her every word, "Now, the wand movement is quite simple really, Harry, if you don't mind?" she asked her brother, who gladly moved into dueling position across from her. "Say Harry is my opponent," the two had their wands out, at the ready, assuming their fighting stances, "I point my wand at him and I will just barely move my hand forward like so. Incarcerus."

Harry collapsed to the ground unable to maintain balance when the cords hit him, successfully binding his arms and legs to his body. "Now, notice how when I turn my wand hand palm up and the more energy and focus that I put in, the tighter the ropes' grip becomes," she said calmly, only tightening it enough for a visual aid and enough not to hurt her brother. He only let out a small grunt of discomfort. The DA members burst out into low chatter as Kat undid the jinx from her brother and helped him to his feet with a grin, which he returned with a look of mock irritation. After quickly teaching them the counter spell they all paired off and began practicing as Harry and Kat watched to make sure nothing went wrong and to jump in if it appeared someone needed help. The two had worked out a fairly efficient and rather successful teaching method and the members of Dumbledore's Army were learning quickly and hungry for more.

The twins were happy to see sweeping success with the exception of the few corrections and words of advice for some of their "students." They eventually moved onto practicing spells on the dummy, each group member using one of the spells that they had learned and after that, moved onto pairing off once more and practicing spells upon each other. Dumbledore's Army was improving and Harry and Kat couldn't have been happier to see their progress. Even Neville was finally succeeding at casting good defensive spells. Before they knew it, the meeting was over and after Harry thanked them all, congratulating them on their hard work and wishing them a happy holiday, the group left in controlled numbers. They had to be exceedingly careful nowadays to avoid Umbridge, the Hogwarts High Inquisitor and her brutally effective Inquisitorial Squad which was entirely made up of Slytherins, namely Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise Zabini, and Pansy Parkinson to name a few. Umbridge's Educational Decrees lined the walls and were now specifically targeting the DA, which was only just a rumour but still a threat in her eyes.

It would take a while for the group to clear out so Harry and Kat would usually stay until the rest had cleared out. Hermione and Ron would leave before, so as not to draw suspicion. Neville used to wait for Kat not too far away from the Room of Requirement but under the current circumstances no extraneous risks could be taken, so he had now taken to waiting with the Potter twins. Today, Cho decided to stick around as well, clearly wanting a moment alone with Harry but covered it up by staring at a picture of Cedric that Harry and Kat had posted as a memorial. Kat, although not happy about it, obliged excusing herself and Neville and the two left Harry and Cho in the room alone.

As they made their way out and were a safe distance away from the door that instantly disappeared once they had closed it behind them, Kat and Neville's hands clasped and the two walked in silence. She had told him about her little run in with Malfoy and they decided now that he knew, there was really no sense in keeping their relationship hidden, the whole school would know anyway. It was also, however, less suspicious now that they were together alone and walking back to Gryffindor Tower from the 7th floor corridors, especially now that they were a couple.

Kat had a meeting later that evening with Snape concerning her special lessons. Only Harry, Ron, Hermione, and her boyfriend knew of these weekly "N.E.W.T.s practice" sessions. Her homework was finished for the most part and she figured she'd have a little alone time with Neville. Once they entered the common room they moved quickly to a small, somewhat secluded corner with her nuzzled up to his side, her head nestled on his shoulder as his leaned against hers. His arm was draped around her while his other one stroked the hand that it held. They would whisper to each other once in a while, for the most part enjoying the comfortable silence between them.

Ron and Hermione were occupying the usual chairs by the fire, Ron struggling to put out the effort to do his homework while Hermione seemed to be cranking it out at only the speed and effort that was expected of her. Every once and a while she would steal a glance at Kat and Neville and smile before returning her focus to her work. Harry came in about 20 minutes later joining his friends by the fireplace with a somewhat dazed yet goofy smile on his face. Kat knew that he had kissed Cho just by the way he walked into the common room. There was a little bounce in his step that could only come from kissing someone that you fancy.

Her session with Snape was drawing near and she reluctantly withdrew from her boyfriend's arms telling him that she had to go. He stood with her, offering to walk her down at least part of the way. She declined his offer, saying it was best not to let on that he knew of her lessons, the last thing she wanted was for him to get into trouble for knowing too much. He hesitantly agreed giving her a soft, sweet kiss on the lips and drawing her into a hug. She kissed him once more as they separated from the hug, saying goodbye to him and walked over to say goodbye to Hermione, Ron, and Harry (not to mention poking fun at her brother for his recent moment with Cho and at Ron for his, as Hermione put it, "emotional range of a teaspoon") who said they'd see her later in response. With that, she headed out of the portrait hole and down to the dungeons.

[center]*********[/center]

"Good, Miss Potter," Snape complimented her in his dry, monotone voice, "Again." Kat sighed; she was tired, shaky and sweaty from the concentration and exertion that the lesson had cost. "Sir?" she asked warily. "What?" he replied testily although he couldn't find it in himself to be angry with the girl who so closely resembled Lily Evans (he could never bring himself to call her by her husband's name). "I've- I've recently experienced something rather odd, something I can't quite explain," she started, thankful that he was interested and letting her rest for just a little while longer. "And what exactly would that be Miss Potter?" he looked rather bored and unenthused as he usually did. "It's really quite peculiar sir, I was talking to my friend and when she touched my hand I felt a tug on my mind. And the thing is sir, so did she. It has never happened me before until last night."

"It happened again this morning. Harry touched my hand and, it was stronger this time sir. But this time was different, I… I saw things, almost like pictures, flashes of his life. I, I just want to know what's happening to me sir." she finished, a naïve look and feeling of fear played upon her pretty features. Snape looked at the girl in front of him, her green eyes reflecting the innocent, almost childlike fright. He understood at that instant why Dumbledore was so adamant about her potential and the need for her to be inducted into the Order at such a young age. "Most intriguing Miss Potter. You say this has never happened before last night?" he said after a long pause. "Yes, sir," she replied. "I will talk to the headmaster, until that time," he drawled, quickly changing the subject back to their previous activity, "we shall resume your lesson. Legilimens!"


	17. Chapter 17

HP 17

Kat woke up that night with a start, her last dream being the most graphic she had seen in a long while. She was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily as she sat up in her bed to find the worried face of her best friend beside her. "Kat, what's wrong? Are you alright?" Kat shook her head, unable to formulate words, clearly shaken by the night terror that she had just experienced "Mr. Weasley," she panted before dashing out of bed, "I need to find Harry." Hermione followed after her friend, slipping on a robe as she jogged to catch up, completely and utterly confused. Kat flew up the stairs to the boys' dormitories and rushed into her brother's room. The boys were for the most part, crowded around Harry's bed. Harry was covered in sweat and breathing heavily, looking deathly pale as he sat there gasping. She was at his side in an instant and in that moment, she knew that they had shared the same dream but this time, Harry had the more vivid version.

As she grabbed his hand to help and try to sooth him, Professor McGonagall flew into the room in her dressing gown, her hair down and clearly flustered. One look at the Potter twins and she knew something was terribly wrong. Everything seemed a blur from then until they arrived in Dumbledore's office. All Kat remembered was McGonagall and Ron supporting Harry ahead of Hermione who was supporting Kat as they raced down the many corridors to the griffin statue. Once in the office Harry was told to share the dream he had just experienced. He looked so vulnerable, so helpless, so lost and Kat, who was quite shaken herself, wanted nothing more than to bear the burden for her brother so he wouldn't have to suffer through the torture that was the Dark Lord's mind.

All were quite shocked when he said that he saw it from the snake's perspective and Dumbledore, looked for the first time, somewhat flustered. At that time Snape had chosen to arrive. His exchange with the headmaster was cryptic at the most and resulted in Harry getting dragged from the room by the potions master. Dumbledore said that he would be sending the Weasleys, the Potters, and Hermione by portkey in the morning; their Christmas holiday would be starting a wee bit sooner than usual so they could see Mr. Weasley in the hospital and be there for his recovery. All of them were sent back to their dormitories to try and rest and to eventually pack when the morning came. Kat, who had not said a thing since she had run to find Harry, looked to be a mild form of shock. McGonagall conjured up a blanket, placing it around her shoulders and rubbing the poor girl's shoulders gently to try and sooth her.

From the time she and Harry had been separated as babies until the time that they had been reunited in their first year at Hogwarts, Katherine Potter had grown up within the walls of the school, hidden from the world. Professor McGonagall had been almost a motherly figure to her, perhaps more of a grandmother-like figure, teaching her things, cultivating her seemingly endless thirst for knowledge, and often tending to the poor girl after particularly nasty and terrifying nightmares. Kat was eternally grateful for everything that the elderly witch had done for her over the years, thanking her as they walked down the corridor back to Gryffindor tower.

"It will be alright Katherine," she assured her as they made their way down the hall, "Don't you forget, Mr. Weasley is still alive tonight because of you and your brother." Kat looked at her head of house, her eyes tired and dull, almost the eyes of someone who had seen much in her young life, more than anyone her age should have seen at her age. "I know," she murmured, "It's just… I- I can't take it anymore. These dreams or visions, whatever they are, are driving me mad. He's in my head professor and I can't get him out," she said, beginning to weep silently. The older witch stopped walking and turned to face the young girl, her usually confident and kind yet mature demeanor that seemed beyond her fifteen years was replaced with a look of frailty and fear, exhaustion clear in her stance by the way her shoulders seemed to hunch forward and the slight drop of her head.

"Have you not been doing what Professor Snape had taught you?" she asked her. "Yes, I've tried. I don't have the energy to do it. I need sleep, something the Dark Lord's not been allowing me to get enough of," Kat muttered bitterly. "Does he know of your link to his mind?" McGonagall asked, fearing the worst. "No," Kat replied, noticing her transfiguration teacher let out a small breath of relief, "Not that I know of. He's only once contacted me through my dreams. Nothing's been that vivid since…" As soon as the words left her mouth Kat regretted it noting the stern look that rapidly appeared on McGonagall's face. "Miss Potter, he contacted you through your subconscious and you didn't tell anyone?" she asked incredulously, her voice disapprovingly as she looked over her glasses at Katherine who now had a look of guilt washing over her tired features. "I'm sorry professor. I just didn't want to say anything, especially with everything that's been going on recently and now with Harry's dream tonight… " Kat apologised, with the utmost sincerity in her voice.

"We will talk about this with Professor Dumbledore tomorrow," McGonagall said sternly, eyeing Kat warily with evident concern. Kat nodded in response, mentally cursing herself for letting slip about her particularly violent dream from the beginning of the year. "Now, off to bed with you before you pass out in the hallway, remember to pack when you wake up and report to the headmaster's office as soon as you finish," she added, her tone taking on a softer edge as she sent the poor girl off for some much deserved sleep. When she was out of sight, McGonagall swiftly made her way back to Dumbledore's office to tell him about the little conversation and the dream that Kat had kept hidden from the head of the Order.

Kat, although exhausted, began to pack upon entering her room, unable to go to sleep. Hermione seemed not to feel to sleepy either and had already begun to pack for Grimmauld Place. The two said nothing as they placed their things into their trunks, Kat using her telekinesis to fold her things as she went along, hoping that the use of her mind would tire her out enough to help her get to sleep. They finished around the same time, both sitting on their beds in silence. "Hermione," Kat called. "Yeah," came the reply. "If I'm not here when you get up tomorrow I'm probably going to be in Dumbledore's office, they know about the dream I had in September." Hermione snapped her gaze to meet her friend's, sitting bolt upright in the process, "What happened?" she asked, not bothering to utter an I-told-you-so.

"McGonagall was walking me back and we got to talking about Voldemort being in my mind and, well, it kind of just… slipped out. It was like word vomit or something, I dunno. Once it started I couldn't stop," Kat frowned, clearly annoyed with herself. Hermione frowned while she expressed her sympathy. Both girls knew that something was up. Voldemort wanted something desperately from the Ministry of Magic and now members of the Order guarding whatever it was were at risk and Mr. Weasley was the first to have been openly and violently attacked. Dumbledore was worried, all of the members were and yet they still told Kat nothing. The girls sighed and reluctantly went to bed, Kat hoping for a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

"Interesting," said Dumbledore as he paced away from his desk, a pondering look upon his ancient features as he processed Kat's dream. The girl sat in the chair in facing his desk, watching his actions intently trying (rather futilely) to figure anything out from his mostly unreadable expression. "It seems Katherine, that both you and your brother have a connection with the Dark Lord's mind, which is intensified through the rather strong bond that you and Harry share. Now, whether or not he is aware of this connection I cannot tell, but you must be wary of the things that you see, for if he is indeed aware, which is currently rather doubtful, he will send false visions and cause more horrible dreams that are meant to torture you as Professor Snape has already told you. Be careful Katherine and focus on the things at hand, I know that you are more than ready to use occlumancy to defend yourself when the time comes." Kat looked inquisitively at her headmaster, choosing to nod and utter a somewhat confident sounding "Yes sir" in response, unsure of how to properly reply to the information he had just thrown at her. "Now," began the great wizard, "I do believe the others will be arriving after breakfast and the portkey is ready for use when they arrive. Your things have already been sent to Grimmauld Place. Go get some breakfast before you head out," he said, his voice adapting his usual calm tone. "Traveling by portkey on an empty stomach usually isn't the best of ideas," he added, his blue eyes twinkling over his half-moon spectacles.

Kat found Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys sitting together at the Gryffindor table. The lot of them were eating in relative silence (which to anyone observing them who was not aware of the current situation would have thought to be odd and uncharacteristic) with the occasional question of passing some food or drink. Even the twins maintained solemn expressions, the reality of the dangers of the world outside Hogwarts only beginning to reveal itself to them. Kat sat next to her brother quietly greeting them as she took her place, earning a soft murmur of greeting in response. None of them had much of an appetite, all of them picking at the food that lay on the plates in front of them. Even Ron was barely touching his food.

After gaining a consensus of whether everyone was finished, the group decided to make their way to Dumbledore's office. As they stood, Kat caught the eye of Neville, who had noticed the behaviour of the group and decided it wise to let them alone. He rose from his seat quickly and met up with her outside the Great Hall. "I'm so sorry I have to go like this Neville," she murmured as he drew her into his arms. He kissed the top of her head before nuzzling his nose into her hair. He inhaled deeply, taking in her sweet smell, "Don't apologise. I'll see you after break ends, yeah?" She nodded as she pulled away slightly to get a good glimpse of the warm brown eyes and handsome face that she had begun to fall so hard for. He slowly and tenderly met her lips in a soft, yet passionate kiss. For someone who was so inexperienced, he seemed to have a natural talent for making her knees go weak. Only he and, dare she say it, Malfoy had that ability to make her feel so dependent on their touch, but only Neville looked at her with a seemingly ever present look of affection.

When they pulled apart she bid him goodbye and walked off to find her friends and her brother. They had all been moving at a sluggish pace, despite their evident concern for their father, due to their reluctance to see him in such a bloodied state was completely understandable. She quickly fell into line next to her brother as they trudged down the long winding corridors to get to the headmaster's office.


End file.
